Monday, 21st July 2025

21st July in the Stars – Star Sign Cancer

Today, the zodiac sign Cancer celebrates its birthday.

Personality Profile

Personality People born on July 21st blend Cancer's emotional sensitivity with Neptunian dreams and imagination. They are introspective thinkers with keen intuition and artistic sensibilities. The Moon infuses them with emotional intelligence and deep attachment to home and family.

Strengths & Weaknesses Their greatest strengths are empathy, creativity, and the ability to read others emotionally. Weaknesses emerge through excessive sentimentality or escapism. They may struggle between practical demands and spiritual yearnings.

Love In relationships, they are devoted and crave emotional depth and understanding. They value partners who respect their inner world and share creative aspirations. Loyalty and security matter far more than surface attraction.

Caree & Finance Creative professions—art, writing, counseling—appeal strongly to them. Financial stability matters, yet security outweighs wealth accumulation. They thrive in supportive environments where intuition is valued and nurtured.

Health Emotional stress often manifests physically; they're sensitive to atmospheres. Water-based activities, meditation, and creative expression help release tension. Consistent sleep and gentle movement support emotional equilibrium.

That night, the moon was in its waxing gibbous phase.

Chinese year of the Snake (Wood).

Fun Facts About 21st July

Name Days in Your Language: Alma, Erna, Ernest, Ernestina, Ernesto, Ernie, Wesley, West, Westin, Westley, Weston

Someone born on this day would be just 317 days old today — roughly 7,625 hours, 457,535 minutes, or 27,452,136 seconds spent on Earth so far.

It's the 202. day of the year. In 2025, 21st July falls on a Monday.

There are 163 days still to come.

We’re currently in Week 30 — the year marches on.

Famous Birthdays on 21st July

On this day, 233 notable people were born on 21st July — spanning from 541 to 2006. From world leaders to artists and scientists, discover who shares this birthday.

21/07/2006

Endrick, Brazilian footballer

Endrick Felipe Moreira de Sousa, known as Endrick, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Lyon, on loan from La Liga club Real Madrid, and the Brazil national team.

21/07/2000

Erling Haaland, Norwegian footballer

Erling Braut Haaland is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester City and the Norway national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, and the greatest Norwegian player ever, he is known for his speed, strength, positioning, and finishing inside the box.

Lia, South Korean singer

Choi Ji-su, better known by her stage name Lia (리아), is a South Korean singer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Itzy, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2019.

21/07/1999

Evan McPherson, American football player

Evan McPherson mick-FEAR-suhn; is an American professional football placekicker for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida Gators before being drafted by the Bengals in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL draft, the only kicker to be selected that year.

21/07/1998

Maggie Lindemann, American singer-songwriter.

Margaret Elizabeth Lindemann is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 2016 breakout single "Pretty Girl", which peaked at number 4 in Sweden, number 6 in Ireland, and number 8 in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Following the song, Lindemann transitioned her music into a more alternative sound. She then released her debut EP, Paranoia (2021). Her debut album, Suckerpunch, was released on September 16, 2022.

Marie Bouzkova, Czech tennis player

Marie Bouzková is a Czech professional tennis player. She reached a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 24 on 12 December 2022, and a best doubles ranking of No. 15, on 6 May 2024. She has won three singles titles and six doubles titles on the WTA Tour. In addition, she has won twelve singles titles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit.

21/07/1996

Mikael Ingebrigtsen, Norwegian footballer

Mikael Norø Ingebrigtsen is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a winger for Danish 1st Division club Kolding IF.

21/07/1992

Jude Adjei-Barimah, Italian-American football player

Jude Adjei-Barimah is an Italian former American football cornerback. He played college football at Bowling Green.

Jessica Barden, English actress

Jessica Amy Barden is an English actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, Barden is most notable for her role as Alyssa Foley in the Channel 4 comedy-drama The End of the F***ing World (2017–2019). She received a British Independent Film Award nomination for her performance in Scarborough (2018).

Julia Beljajeva, Estonian épée fencer

Julia Beljajeva is an Estonian right-handed épée fencer.

Burak Çelik, Turkish actor and model

Burak Çelik is a Turkish actor, model and beauty pageant titleholder. He was best known for playing the role of Goktuğ in Kuruluş Osman and Mahir Denizhan in Sevgili Geçmiş.

Da$H, American rapper

Darien Corey Dash, Jr., known professionally as Dash, is an American rapper. Apart from his solo career, he was a member of Heir Global, alongside former friend and collaborator, Retch. Dash is also an affiliate of ASAP Mob, making his first high-profile appearance on their debut mixtape Lords Never Worry, in 2012. He frequently works with record producer Mordecai Beats, with whom he released the mixtape La Cienega (2012). Da$h has also collaborated with several prominent rappers in the hip-hop industry, including Ab-Soul, Action Bronson, Earl Sweatshirt, Vince Staples, Suicideboys, and Mac Miller.

Giovanni De Gennaro, Italian slalom canoeist

Giovanni De Gennaro is an Italian slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2008, specializing in K1 and kayak cross. He is a three time Olympian and an Olympic champion in the K1 event from the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Charlotte de Witte, Belgian DJ and record producer

Charlotte Aloïs de Witte is a Belgian DJ and record producer, best known for her "dark and stripped-back" brand of acid techno and minimal techno. She has previously performed under the alias Raving George. She is the founder of the labels KNTXT and Époque. De Witte's music is known to embody raw and gritty elements which attract both techno purists and new listeners.

Dawid Dryja, Polish volleyball player

Dawid Dryja is a Polish professional volleyball player, a bronze medallist at the 2015 European League and named the Best Middle Blocker of the tournament. At the professional club level, he plays for Jastrzębski Węgiel.

Rachael Flatt, American figure skater

Rachael Elizabeth Flatt is an American former competitive figure skater. She is the 2008 World Junior champion, a winner of four silver medals on the Grand Prix series, and the 2010 U.S. national champion.

Marcus Harris, Australian cricketer

Marcus Sinclair Harris is an Australian cricketer who has represented Australia in Test cricket. A left-handed opening batter, Harris plays for Victoria and Lancashire in domestic cricket. He made his Test debut for the Australia national cricket team in December 2018 against India. He was a member of the Australian team that won the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final.

Jonathon Jennings, American Canadian football player

Jonathon Jennings is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the BC Lions and Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals. Jennings made his professional debut for the Lions in 2015.

Dante Marini, American soccer player

Dante Marini is an American former soccer player.

Henry Owens, American baseball pitcher

Henry Cole Owens is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox.

Andrew Rayel, Moldovan DJ and producer

Andrei Rață, better known by his stage name Andrew Rayel, is a Moldovan producer and DJ. Initially releasing his music on Armada Music, Rayel founded the label "inHarmony Music" on 22 September 2017, where his role is label chief and head of A&R.

Yuka Sato, Japanese javelin thrower

Yuka Sato is a Japanese athlete specialising in the javelin throw. She represented her country at the 2019 World Championships without qualifying for the final. Earlier in her career she won a bronze medal at the 2011 Asian Championships.

Miles Ukaoma, American-born Nigerian hurdler

Miles Ukaoma is an American-born Nigerian hurdler. In 2016, Miles Ukaoma qualified for the 400 metres hurdles event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, He competed in the 400 metres hurdles event at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing narrowly missing the semifinals. His personal best in the 400 metres hurdles is 48.84 seconds set in Warri in 2015.

21/07/1991

Sara Sampaio, Portuguese model

Sara Pinto Sampaio is a Portuguese model and actress, best known for being a Victoria's Secret Angel. She is a Giorgio Armani beauty ambassador and works for Calzedonia.

21/07/1990

Franck Elemba, Congolese athlete

Franck Dannique Elemba Owaka is a Republic of the Congo athlete competing in the shot put. He represented his country at the 2014 World Indoor Championships and 2015 World Championships, as well as team Africa at the 2010 and 2014 Continental Cup.

Chris Martin, English footballer

Christopher Joseph Martin is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Jason Roy, South African-English cricketer

Jason Jonathan Roy is an English cricketer who played for England in One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket, and previously played for the Test team. In domestic cricket, he represents Surrey, and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues around the world.

Erislandy Savón, Cuban amateur heavyweight boxer

Erislandy Savón Cotilla is a Cuban heavyweight amateur boxer. He won the 91 kg/201 lbs title at the 2008 Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships, the 2009 Pan American Championships at Super Heavyweight and also the AIBA World Boxing Championships 2015 and 2017 in Heavyweight.

21/07/1989

Rory Culkin, American actor

Rory Hugh Culkin is an American actor known for his roles in You Can Count on Me (2000), Signs (2002), Scream 4 (2011), Columbus (2017), and Lords of Chaos (2018). He has also appeared on television series such as Waco (2018), Under the Banner of Heaven (2022), and the Black Mirror (2023) episode "Beyond the Sea." In 2025, his short film Dear Shop Girl premiered at the Woodstock Film Festival.

Marco Fabián, Mexican footballer

Marco Jhonfai Fabián de la Mora is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Ranger's. He is an Olympic gold medalist.

Juno Temple, English actress

Juno Temple is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the comedy series Ted Lasso (2020–2023) and in the fifth season of the crime drama series Fargo (2023–2024). She earned Primetime Emmy Award nominations for both, as well as a Golden Globe Award nomination for the latter. She also portrayed Teddy Paine in the superhero film Venom: The Last Dance (2024).

Jamie Waylett, British actor

Jamie Michael Waylett is a British former actor. His only film role to date is that of Vincent Crabbe in six of the eight Harry Potter films. In 2012, he was imprisoned for two years for his participation in the 2011 England riots.

21/07/1988

KB, American rapper

Kevin Elijah Burgess, better known by his stage name KB, is an American Christian rapper and music executive from St. Petersburg, Florida. He is the leader of the hip-hop group HGA. Burgess signed a solo artist contract with Reach Records in 2010. The label has released several projects, including the Who Is KB? mixtape in 2011, Weight & Glory, on July 17, 2012, 100 EP on March 4, 2014, Tomorrow We Live on April 21, 2015, and Today We Rebel on October 20, 2017. He was formerly a member of the label collective formerly 116 clique shortened to 116.

DeAndre Jordan, American basketball player

Hyland DeAndre Jordan Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies.

Chris Mitchell, Scottish footballer (died 2016)

Christopher Philip Mitchell was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder.

21/07/1987

Peter Doocy, American journalist[citation needed]

Peter James Doocy is an American senior White House correspondent and co-anchor of The Sunday Briefing for Fox News.

Bilel Mohsni, French footballer

Bilel Mohsni is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Jesús Zavala, Mexican footballer

Jesús Eduardo Zavala Castañeda is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

21/07/1986

Anthony Annan, Ghanaian footballer

Anthony Gildas Kofi Annan is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for DJK Arminia Lirich.

Rebecca Ferguson, American-English singer-songwriter

Rebecca Caroline Ferguson is an English soul singer and songwriter. In 2010, Ferguson finished as the runner-up in the seventh series of The X Factor. She later released her debut album titled Heaven in December 2011. The album peaked at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart, and went onto achieve another three top three albums with: Freedom (2013), Lady Sings the Blues (2015), and Superwoman (2016). She cites Aretha Franklin, Kings of Leon, Christina Aguilera, and Amy Winehouse among her influences.

Jason Thompson, American basketball player

Jason Carlton Thompson is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League. He was a starting center playing college basketball for the Rider Broncs from 2004 to 2008, and was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. He holds the record for most games played with the Kings during their tenure in Sacramento.

21/07/1985

Mati Lember, Estonian footballer

Mati Lember is a retired Estonian football player who played in different Estonian association football teams, with a small experience in the Estonia national football team between 2004–2007. He used to play in the position of defensive midfielder. He is 1.75 metres (5.7 ft) tall and weighs 72 kilograms (159 lb).

Von Wafer, American basketball player

Vakeaton Quamar "Von" Wafer is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles.

21/07/1984

Jurrick Juliana, Dutch footballer

Jurrick Juliana is a Curaçaoan former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Liam Ridgewell, English footballer

Liam Matthew Ridgewell is an English retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He was primarily a centre back but could also play at left back. He is an assistant coach with the Portland Timbers.

21/07/1983

Kellen Winslow II, American football player

Kellen Boswell Winslow II is an American former professional football player and convicted rapist who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). Playing college football for the Miami Hurricanes, he earned unanimous All-American honors and recognition as the top college tight end in 2003. He won a BCS national championship with Miami in 2001.

21/07/1982

Jason Cram, Australian swimmer

Jason Cram is an Australian freestyle swimmer.

Mao Kobayashi, Japanese newscaster and actress (died 2017)

Mao Kobayashi was a Japanese freelance newscaster and actress. She was also one of Fuji TV's weathercasters.

21/07/1981

Paloma Faith, English singer-songwriter and actress

Paloma Faith Blomfield is an English singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful? (2009), which produced the UK top-twenty singles "Stone Cold Sober" and "New York". Her second album, Fall to Grace (2012), charted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, earned her two Brit Award nominations, and spawned her first UK top-ten single "Picking Up the Pieces" and the top-twenty cover version of INXS's "Never Tear Us Apart".

Anabelle Langlois, Canadian figure skater

Anabelle Langlois is a Canadian pair skater. She is the 2008 Canadian Figure Skating Champion with Cody Hay and the 2002 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships silver medallist with Patrice Archetto.

Joaquín, Spanish footballer

Joaquín Sánchez Rodríguez, known mononymously as Joaquín, is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a right winger.

Blake Lewis, American musician, American Idol contestant

Blake Colin Lewis is an American musician and actor who was the runner-up on the sixth season of American Idol. His major label debut album A.D.D. was released on December 4, 2007, through 19 Recordings and Arista Records. On October 30, 2007, his first single "Break Anotha" was released. The album landed on number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 as its highest peak position with 97,500 copies sold in its debut, and has sold over 350,000 copies. After the release of his second single "How Many Words", which peaked at number eight on the U.S. Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs, Lewis was dropped by Arista Records. Lewis eventually signed with Tommy Boy Records.

Romeo Santos, American singer-songwriter

Anthony "Romeo" Santos is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He first rose to prominence as the lead vocalist and frontman of the bachata group Aventura, one of the most influential Latin music bands of the 2000s. Santos later established a successful solo career, achieving seven number-one songs on Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart and eighteen number-one hits on the Tropical Airplay chart. He has sold over 24 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time.

Stefan Schumacher, German cyclist

Stefan Schumacher is a German former professional road racing cyclist. Schumacher won the bronze medal in the road race at the 2007 UCI Road World Championships, two stages in the 2006 Giro d'Italia and two stages in the 2008 Tour de France. After positive results on doping products in the 2008 Tour de France and the 2008 Summer Olympics, he received a suspension for two years, later reduced by some months. After his suspension, he came back as a professional cyclist before retiring in 2017.

21/07/1980

Jon Dorenbos, American football player

Jonathan Paul Dorenbos is an American former professional football player and magician who was a long snapper in the National Football League (NFL), earning two Pro Bowl selections.

Justin Griffith, American football player

Justin Montrel Griffith is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL draft. He played college football for the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Sandra Laoura, French skier

Sandra Laoura is a French freestyle skier of Algerian origin who competed at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Laoura won bronze in the women's moguls event.

CC Sabathia, American baseball player

Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Yankees. Sabathia batted and threw left-handed.

Yvonne Sampson, Australian journalist and sportscaster

Yvonne Sampson is an Australian television sports presenter and commentator.

Heath Scotland, Australian rules footballer

Heath Scotland is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. He played for Collingwood and Carlton, appearing in two AFL Grand Finals during his time with Collingwood. He was awarded the Best and Fairest for the Carlton Football Club in 2012. His professional career ended in 2014.

21/07/1979

David Carr, American football player

David Duke Carr is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Carr played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs, winning the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and Sammy Baugh Trophy in 2001. He was selected first overall by the Houston Texans in the 2002 NFL draft and was the franchise's first draft selection.

Tamika Catchings, American basketball player

Tamika Devonne Catchings is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire 15-year career for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Widely considered as one of the greatest female basketball players and one of the most decorated players in WNBA history, Catchings has won a WNBA championship (2012), WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2011), WNBA Finals MVP Award (2012), five WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards, four Olympic gold medals, the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2002), and an NCAA championship with the University of Tennessee Lady Vols (1998). She is one of only 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup gold and a WNBA Championship. She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams, 12 All-WNBA teams, 12 All-Defensive teams and led the league in steals eight times. In 2011, Catchings was voted in by fans as one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time, and would be named to two more all-time WNBA teams, the WNBA Top 20@20 in 2016 and The W25 in 2021.

Luis Ernesto Michel, Mexican footballer

Luis Ernesto Michel Vergara is a Mexican football manager and a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Michel has captained both Guadalajara and the Mexico national team in official matches, captaining the latter in the 2011 Copa América.

Andriy Voronin, Ukrainian footballer

Andriy Viktorovych Voronin is a Ukrainian professional football manager and a former player.

21/07/1978

Justin Bartha, American actor

Justin Lee Bartha is an American actor. In film, Bartha has played Riley Poole in the National Treasure film series and Doug Billings in The Hangover trilogy. His television roles include David Sawyer in the NBC comedy series The New Normal as well as Colin Morrello in the CBS All Access legal and political drama The Good Fight.

Anderson da Silva Gibin, Brazilian footballer

Anderson da Silva Gibin, sometimes known as Anderson PB, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Clube Náutico Marcílio Dias.

Josh Hartnett, American actor

Joshua Daniel Hartnett is an American actor. He began his career on ABC's drama series Cracker (1997–1998), after which he became known as a teen idol through starring parts in films such as Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, The Faculty, The Virgin Suicides (1999), Pearl Harbor, O, Black Hawk Down, and 40 Days and 40 Nights (2002).

Julian Huppert, English academic and politician

Julian Leon Huppert is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament for Cambridge from 2010 to 2015. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he had previously served as a member of the Cambridgeshire County Council for East Chesterton.

Damian Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer

Damian Robert Nesta Marley is a Jamaican reggae singer. The youngest son of Bob Marley, he is the recipient of four Grammy Awards.

Gary Teale, Scottish footballer

Gary Stewart Teale is a Scottish professional football player and coach.

21/07/1977

Paul Casey, English golfer

Paul Alexander Casey is an English golfer who is a member of LIV Golf. He has also played on the US-based PGA Tour and the European Tour. In 2009, he achieved his highest position, third, in the Official World Golf Ranking.

21/07/1976

Cori Bush, American politician

Cori Anika Bush is an American politician, nurse, pastor, and Black Lives Matter activist who served as the U.S. representative for Missouri's 1st congressional district from 2021 to 2025. The district includes all of the city of St. Louis and most of northern St. Louis County. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first African-American woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri.

Jalmari Helander, Finnish film director and screenwriter

Jalmari Helander is a Finnish screenwriter and film director. He is known for the 2010 film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, the 2014 action-adventure Big Game starring Samuel L. Jackson, and the 2022 WWII action film Sisu. Before turning to feature films, Helander directed several short films and award-winning television commercials. In 2025, it was announced that Helander would direct John Rambo, the upcoming prequel to First Blood (1982) in the Rambo franchise.

Jaime Murray, English actress

Jaime Erica Murray is an English actress. She is known for playing Stacie Monroe in the BBC series Hustle (2004–2012), Lila West in the Showtime series Dexter (2007), Gaia in the Starz miniseries Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011), Olivia Charles in The CW series Ringer (2011–2012), Helena G. Wells in the Syfy series Warehouse 13 (2010–2014), Stahma Tarr in the Syfy series Defiance (2013–2015), Fiona/the Black Fairy in the ABC series Once Upon a Time (2016–2017), Antoinette in The CW series The Originals (2018), and Nyssa al Ghul in Gotham (2019).

21/07/1975

Christopher Barzak, American author and educator

Christopher Barzak is an American author. He has published many short stories, beginning with "A Mad Tea Party" in Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet in 1999. In 2007 he published his debut novel, One for Sorrow, which won the 2008 Crawford Award, and was a nominee for the 2008 Great Lakes Book Award as well as Logo TV's NewNowNext Awards. His second novel, The Love We Share Without Knowing, was a 2008 James Tiptree Jr. Award finalist and a 2009 Nebula Awards finalist for Best Novel. His first full-length short story collection, Before and Afterlives, was the recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Single-Author Collection in 2013.

David Dastmalchian, American actor

David Dastmalchian is an American actor, writer, and producer, known especially for his work in science fiction and superhero films and television series. He has had roles in three films directed by Denis Villeneuve: Prisoners (2013); Blade Runner 2049 (2017); and Dune (2021), in which he portrayed Piter De Vries. He stars as Gurathin in the Apple TV+ series Murderbot (2025) and appears as Mr. 3 in the Netflix series One Piece (2026).

Cara Dillon, Irish singer-songwriter

Cara Elizabeth Dillon is a Northern Irish folk singer.

Ravindra Pushpakumara, Sri Lankan cricketer

Deshabandu Karuppiahyage Ravindra Pushpakumara, or Ravindra Pushpakumara, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer of Tamil - Sinhalese mixed ancestry. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He was a key member of Sri Lanka's 1996 Cricket World Cup winning team.

Mike Sellers, American football player

Michael Sellers is a former American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He was the youngest import player to sign a Canadian Football League (CFL) deal in the history of the football league when he played at 19 years old for the Edmonton Eskimos. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the NFL's Washington Redskins, and also played for the Cleveland Browns of the NFL.

21/07/1974

Geoff Jenkins, American baseball player and coach

Geoffrey Scott Jenkins is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers (1998–2007) and Philadelphia Phillies (2008). He is fourth on the Brewers’ all-time career home run list, trailing only Hall-of-Famer Robin Yount, 2011 National League (NL) MVP Ryan Braun, and former All-Star first baseman Prince Fielder. Following his playing career, Jenkins was on the coaching staff of the 2013 Peoria Explorers of the now-defunct Independent Freedom Pro Baseball League.

René Reinumägi, Estonian actor, director, and screenwriter

René Reinumägi is an Estonian film director, scriptwriter and actor. With Jaak Kilmi he shares nomination for Grand Prix Asturias at the Gijón International Film Festival, nomination for Golden St. George and the winning of Special Jury Prize at the 26th Moscow International Film Festival in 2004.

21/07/1972

Kimera Bartee, American baseball player (died 2021)

Kimera Anotchi Bartee was an American professional baseball outfielder and coach. Bartee played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, and Colorado Rockies from 1996 to 2001. He coached in the minor leagues and returned to MLB as a coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017. He later coached for the Philadelphia Phillies, before rejoining the Tigers as first base coach in 2021.

Korey Cooper, American singer and guitarist

Skillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife John Cooper and Korey Cooper along with Jen Ledger and Seth Morrison. The band has released twelve studio albums, two of which, Collide and Comatose, received Grammy nominations. Two of their albums, Comatose and Awake, are certified Platinum and Double Platinum respectively by the RIAA, while Rise and Unleashed are certified Gold as of June 29, 2020. Four of their songs, "Monster", "Hero", "Awake and Alive", and "Feel Invincible", are certified Multi-Platinum, while another three, "Whispers in the Dark", "Comatose", and "The Resistance" are certified Platinum, and another five, "Rebirthing", "Not Gonna Die", "The Last Night", "Legendary", and "Stars" are certified Gold.

Catherine Ndereba, Kenyan marathon runner

Catherine Nyambura Ndereba is a retired Kenyan marathon runner. Between 2003 and 2008, she finished in the top two in five successive global championship marathons. Ndereba has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the Summer Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008, becoming Kenya's first female multi-medalist. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon and a two-time winner of the Chicago Marathon. It was at the latter in 2001 that she broke the women's marathon world record with a time of 2:18:47.

21/07/1971

Emmanuel Bangué, French long jumper

Emmanuel Bangué is a French long jumper, best known for finishing fourth at the 1996 Olympic Games. His personal best is 8.25 metres, achieved in September 1996 in Tomblaine.

Charlotte Gainsbourg, English-French actress and singer

Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is a French and British actress and singer. She is the daughter of English actress and singer Jane Birkin and French singer Serge Gainsbourg. After making her musical debut with her father on the song "Lemon Incest" at the age of 12, she released an album with her father at the age of 15. More than 20 years passed before Gainsbourg released albums as an adult, to commercial and critical success. She has acted in many films, including collaborations with Lars von Trier, and received two César Awards and Cannes Film Festival's Best Actress Award, among many nominations.

Nitzan Shirazi, Israeli footballer and manager (died 2014)

Nitzan Shirazi was an Israeli association football player and manager.

21/07/1970

Michael Fitzpatrick, American singer-songwriter

Michael Sean "Fitz" Fitzpatrick, known professionally as FITZ, is a French-American musician, who is the lead vocalist of the indie pop/neo-soul band Fitz and the Tantrums.

21/07/1969

Godfrey, American comedian and actor

Godfrey C. Danchimah Jr., known mononymously as Godfrey, is an American comedian and actor who has appeared on BET, VH1, Comedy Central, and feature films, such as Soul Plane, Original Gangstas, Zoolander, and Johnson Family Vacation. He was also a spokesperson for 7 Up during their "7up yours" advertising campaign, and a cast member on the first season of The It Factor, a reality television series.

Klaus Graf, German race car driver

Klaus Graf is a German professional racing driver. He is the son of rally driver Peter Graf. He lived in the United States while competing in the American Le Mans Series with Muscle Milk Pickett Racing. He resulted LMP1 class champion in 2012 and 2013, and runner-up in 2010 and 2011.

Emerson Hart, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Emerson Hart is a songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and producer. He is the lead singer and songwriter of the alternative rock band Tonic.

Isabell Werth, German equestrian

Isabell Werth is a German equestrian who has competed in dressage at seven Olympic Games —1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2016, 2020, 2024— winning the gold medal in the team event in all seven, and one gold and six silver medals in the individual event. She stands alone in having medals from seven Olympics, or across a span of 32 years; her 14 medals are the most for any German or equestrian. She also has numerous titles in the World and European Championships and World Cups.

21/07/1968

Brandi Chastain, American soccer player and sportscaster

Brandi Denise Chastain is an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, sports broadcaster, and co-founder of Bay FC, the professional soccer club representing the Bay Area in the National Women's Soccer League. She played for the United States national team from 1988 to 2004. In her 192 caps on the team, she scored 30 goals playing primarily in the defender and midfielder positions. She scored a World Cup–winning penalty shootout goal against China in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup final. In 2023, Brandi co-founded Bay FC alongside fellow former USWNT and professional club players Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton, and Aly Wagner.

Aditya Srivastava, Indian actor

Aditya Srivastava is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films, television and theatre. He is best known for his role as Senior Inspector Abhijeet in India's longest-running television police procedural C.I.D. He has also portrayed pivotal roles in the Bollywood films Satya, Gulaal, Lakshya, Paanch, Black Friday, Kaalo, Super 30 and Dil Se Pooch Kidhar Jana Hai.

Lyle Odelein, Canadian ice hockey player

Lyle Theodore Odelein is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played for eight National Hockey League (NHL) teams in 16 seasons, and was the inaugural captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

21/07/1966

Arija Bareikis, American actress

Arija Allison Bareikis is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Officer Chickie Brown in the TV crime drama Southland. She is also known for the films Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo and The Purge.

Sarah Waters, Welsh author

Sarah Ann Waters is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.

21/07/1965

Guðni Bergsson, Icelandic footballer and lawyer

Guðni Bergsson is an Icelandic former professional footballer and former president of the Icelandic Football Association from 2017 to 2021.

Mike Bordick, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster

Michael Todd Bordick is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball from 1990 to 2003 with four teams: the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, and Toronto Blue Jays.

21/07/1964

Steve Collins, Irish boxer and actor

Stephen Collins is an Irish former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 1997. Known as the Celtic Warrior, Collins is the most successful male Irish boxer in recent professional boxing history, having held the WBO middleweight and super-middleweight titles simultaneously and never losing a fight as champion.

Ross Kemp, English actor and producer

Ross James Kemp is an English actor, author, reporter and television presenter. He rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. His other roles include Graham Lodsworth in Emmerdale and Detective Inspector Monk in Birds of a Feather. Kemp presented the BAFTA Award–winning documentary television series Ross Kemp on Gangs (2004–2009).

Jens Weißflog, German ski jumper and journalist

Jens Weißflog is an East German and later German former ski jumper. He is one of the best and most successful ski jumpers in the history of the sport. He is a two time olympic and nordic world ski champion; also overall world winner.

21/07/1963

Kevin Poole, English footballer and manager

Kevin Poole is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is the goalkeeping coach at Solihull Moors.

Giant Silva, Brazilian basketball player, mixed martial artist, and wrestler

Paulo César da Silva is a Brazilian former national basketball player for the Brazilian national basketball team and later mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Giant Silva. He stands 2.18 m and weighs 175 kg (386 lb). A super-heavyweight wrestler, he was both a face and a heel in several professional wrestling promotions. Known for his great height, in 2014 he was described as the sixth tallest professional wrestler in history.

21/07/1962

Victor Adebowale, Baron Adebowale, English businessman

Victor Olufemi Adebowale, Baron Adebowale, is the former Chief Executive of the social care enterprise Turning Point and the current Chair of the NHS Confederation, and was one of the first individuals to become a People's Peer.

21/07/1961

Morris Iemma, Australian politician, 40th Premier of New South Wales

Morris Iemma is an Australian former politician who was the 40th Premier of New South Wales, serving from 3 August 2005 to 5 September 2008.

Jim Martin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

James Blanco Martin is an American guitarist who played with the rock band Faith No More from 1984 until late 1993 having played on their first four albums: We Care A Lot, Introduce Yourself, The Real Thing, and Angel Dust.

21/07/1960

Amar Singh Chamkila, Indian singer-songwriter (died 1988)

Amar Singh Chamkila was an Indian singer and musician of Punjabi music. Chamkila's vivid language, high-pitched vocals, and novel compositions accompanied by tumbi made him popular. His music was influenced by the Punjabi village life in which he grew up.

Veselin Matić, Serbian basketball player and coach

Veselin Matić also known by his nickname Toza, is a Serbian professional basketball coach, who last served as the head coach of India men's national basketball team.

Fritz Walter, German footballer

Fritz Walter is a German former professional footballer who played as a striker, and who was nicknamed "Little Fritz". Born in Mannheim, he is of no relation to German legend of the same name Fritz Walter.

21/07/1959

Gene Miles, Australian rugby league player and sportscaster

Gene Miles is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative centre, he played his club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership before joining the Brisbane Broncos in 1988 and later captained in 1990.

Reha Muhtar, Turkish journalist

Reha Muhtar is a Turkish anchorman, columnist and television reporter of Iraqi Turkmen descent.

Paul Vautin, Australian rugby league player, coach, and sportscaster

Paul Vautin, nicknamed Fatty, is a former Australian rugby commentator and former professional rugby league player, captain and coach. He has provided commentary for the Nine Network's coverage of rugby league since joining the network in 1992 and also hosted The Footy Show from its beginnings in 1994 opposite co-host Peter Sterling, until 2017. An Australian Kangaroos Test and Queensland State of Origin representative lock or second-row forward, Vautin played club football in Brisbane with Wests, before moving to Sydney in 1979 to play with Manly-Warringah, whom he would captain to the 1987 NSWRL premiership. He also played for Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, and in England for St Helens.

21/07/1958

Dave Henderson, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2015)

David Lee Henderson, nicknamed "Hendu", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, and Kansas City Royals during his 14-year career, primarily as an outfielder.

21/07/1957

Stefan Löfven, Swedish trade union leader and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of Sweden

Kjell Stefan Löfven is a Swedish politician who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 2014 to 2021 and as Leader of the Social Democratic Party from 2012 to 2021. He is currently serving as President of European Socialists since 2022.

Jon Lovitz, American comedian, actor, and producer

Jonathan Michael Lovitz is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990 for which he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

21/07/1956

Michael Connelly, American author

Michael Joseph Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller, including 10 with both those characters. Connelly is the bestselling author of 42 novels and one work of non-fiction, with over 74 million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into 40 languages. His first novel, The Black Echo, won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly's 1997 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of Connelly's novel The Lincoln Lawyer starred Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. Connelly was the President of the Mystery Writers of America from 2003 to 2004.

21/07/1955

Howie Epstein, American bass player, songwriter, and producer (died 2003)

Howard Norman Epstein was an American musician best known as a bassist with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Dannel Malloy, American lawyer and politician, 88th Governor of Connecticut

Dannel Patrick Malloy is an American politician who served as the 88th governor of Connecticut from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he chaired the Democratic Governors Association from 2016 to 2017. He is currently Chancellor of the University of Maine System, a position he's held since July 2019.

Taco, Indonesian-born Dutch singer and entertainer

Taco Ockerse, also known mononymously as Taco, is an Indonesian-born Dutch musician, actor and entertainer who started his career in Germany. He scored a global hit song in 1982 with a version of "Puttin' On the Ritz".

Béla Tarr, Hungarian film director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2026)

Béla Tarr was a Hungarian film director, screenwriter and producer. His films are distinguished by their stark black-and-white visuals, extended long takes, languid pacing, and an absence of traditional plotting. They explore existential themes and often focus on marginalized, desperate characters in bleak landscapes. He became known as a founding figure of the slow cinema genre, most notably with his influential 1994 film Sátántangó. That film is often in scholarly polls of the greatest films ever made.

21/07/1953

Eric Bazilian, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer

Eric Michael Bazilian is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer. Bazilian is a founding member of the rock band the Hooters. He wrote "One of Us", a song first recorded by Joan Osborne in 1995.

Jeff Fatt, Australian keyboard player and actor

Jeffrey Wayne Fatt is an Australian musician and actor. He was a member of the children's group The Wiggles from its founding in 1991 to 2012, and was also in the 1980s and 1990s pop band The Cockroaches with fellow Wiggle Anthony Field.

Bernie Fraser, New Zealand rugby player

Bernard Gabriel Fraser is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 124 games for Wellington, and 55 games, including 23 test matches, for New Zealand.

Brian Talbot, English footballer and manager

Brian Ernest Talbot is an English former football player and manager. He was capped six times for the England national team.

21/07/1952

John Barrasso, American physician and politician

John Anthony Barrasso III is an American physician and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wyoming, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Wyoming State Senate from 2003 to 2007. In 2025, he became Senate majority whip, the second-ranking Senate Republican.

Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Malaysian economist

Ahmad Husni bin Mohamad Hanadzlah is a former Second Minister of Finance of Malaysia. He was appointed on 10 April 2009 when Najib Razak became Prime Minister. He was also the Member of Parliament for Tambun for five terms from April 1995 to May 2018. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a major component party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

21/07/1951

Richard Gozney, English politician and diplomat, 30th Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, 139th Governor of Bermuda

Sir Richard Hugh Turton Gozney is a British career diplomat who served as governor and commander in chief of Bermuda from 2007 to 2012, and as the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man from 2016 to 2021.

Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (died 2014)

Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created spontaneously and portrayed in drama and comedy films, he is regarded as one of the greatest comedians of all time. Williams received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and six Golden Globe Awards, as well as five Grammy Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2005.

21/07/1950

Ubaldo Fillol, Argentinian footballer and coach

Ubaldo Matildo Fillol, nicknamed el Pato, is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He took part in the 1974, 1978 and 1982 World Cups representing the Argentina national team. He also played in the South American qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup, but he was finally not chosen for the final team that played in Mexico. He is considered one of the best Argentine goalkeepers ever.

Susan Kramer, Baroness Kramer, English politician, Minister of State for Transport

Susan Veronica Kramer, Baroness Kramer PC is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 2005 to 2010. A member of the Liberal Democrats, she was their Treasury Spokesperson from 2015 to 2017 and 2017 to 2019.

Robert Walls, Australian footballer, coach, and sportscaster (died 2025)

Robert Walls was an Australian rules footballer who represented Carlton and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s and 1970s.

21/07/1949

Christina Hart, American playwright and actress

Christina Hart is an American film producer, film director, playwright and retired actress. She teaches acting at the Hollywood Court Theater.

Hirini Melbourne, New Zealand singer-songwriter and poet (died 2003)

Hirini (Sid) Melbourne was a Māori composer, singer, university lecturer, poet and author who was notable for his contribution to the development of Māori music and the revival of Māori culture. He played traditional instruments and his waiata (songs) have preserved traditions and used Māori proverbs. He received the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of his services to Māori music. He was from Ngāi Tūhoe and Ngāti Kahungunu Māori tribes.

21/07/1948

Art Hindle, Canadian actor and director

Arthur Hindle is a Canadian actor and television director. He won the Gemini Award for Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for his portrayal of news director Mike Fennell on the CTV drama E.N.G. (1989–94). His other notable television roles include Jeff Farraday on Dallas (1981–82), Harry Dobbs on North of 60 (1996–97), Pete Braga on Paradise Falls (2001–08), and Grandpa Hobbie on Holly Hobbie (2021–23).

Cat Stevens, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens or Yusuf/Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion streams. His musical career has explored folk, rock, pop, and, later in his career, Islamic music. Following two decades in which he performed only music which met strict religious standards, he returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards.

Garry Trudeau, American cartoonist

Garretson Beekman Trudeau is an American cartoonist best known for creating the Doonesbury comic strip.

21/07/1947

Chetan Chauhan, Indian cricketer and politician (died 2020)

Chetan Pratap Singh Chauhan was a cricketer who played 40 Test matches for India. He played Ranji Trophy for Maharashtra and Delhi. Chauhan played most of his international cricket in the late 1970s and was the regular opening partner of Sunil Gavaskar during that period. Chetan Chauhan was appointed Chairman of NIFT from June 2016 to June 2017. He was also twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, in 1991 and 1998. From 2018 to 2020, he was minister for youth and sports in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.

21/07/1946

Ken Starr, American lawyer and judge, 39th Solicitor General of the United States (died 2022)

Kenneth Winston Starr was an American lawyer and judge who as independent counsel authored the Starr Report, which served as the basis of the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He headed an investigation of members of the Clinton administration, known as the Whitewater controversy, from 1994 to 1998. Starr previously served as a federal appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1989 and as the U.S. solicitor general from 1989 to 1993 during the presidency of George H. W. Bush.

Timothy Harris, American author, screenwriter and producer

Timothy Hyde Harris is an American author, screenwriter and producer. He has been publishing works of fiction since the late 1960s and has been involved in filmmaking since the early 1980s. For his work in film, Harris has been nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as an Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production.

21/07/1945

Wendy Cope, English poet, critic, and educator

Wendy Cope is a contemporary English poet. She read history at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She now lives in Ely, Cambridgeshire, with her husband, the poet Lachlan Mackinnon.

Geoff Dymock, Australian cricketer

Geoffrey Dymock is an Australian former international cricketer. He played in 21 Test matches and 15 One Day Internationals between 1974 and 1980. On his debut, he took five wickets in the second innings against New Zealand in Adelaide in 1974. He was the third bowler to dismiss all eleven opposition players in a Test match, and remains one of only six bowlers to have achieved this.

Barry Richards, South African cricketer

Barry Anderson Richards is a former South African first-class cricketer. A right-handed "talent of such enormous stature", Richards is considered one of South Africa's most successful batsmen. He was able to play only four Test matches – all against Australia – before South Africa's exclusion from the international scene in 1970. In that brief career, against a competitive Australian attack, Richards scored 508 runs at the high average of 72.57. Richards' contribution in that series was instrumental in the 4–0 win that South Africa inflicted on the side, captained by Bill Lawry. His first century, 140, was scored in conjunction with Graeme Pollock's 274 in a famous 103-run partnership. Mike Procter, whose South African and English career roughly paralleled that of Richards, was prominent in that series as a bowler.

21/07/1944

John Atta Mills, Ghanaian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Ghana (died 2012)

John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills was a Ghanaian politician and legal scholar who served as the 11th president of Ghana from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was inaugurated on 7 January 2009, having defeated the governing party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the 2008 Ghanaian presidential election. He was previously the third vice president from 1997 to 2001 under President Jerry Rawlings, and he contested unsuccessfully in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections as the candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was the first Ghanaian head of state to die in office.

Buchi Emecheta, Nigerian author and academic (died 2017)

Buchi Emecheta was a Nigerian writer, whose work includes novels, plays, autobiography, and children's books. She was best known for her 1974 novel, Second Class Citizen. Her other novels include The Bride Price (1976), The Slave Girl (1977), and The Joys of Motherhood (1979). Emecheta has been characterized as "the first successful black woman novelist living in Britain after 1948".

Paul Wellstone, American academic and politician (died 2002)

Paul David Wellstone was an American academic, author, and politician. He represented Minnesota in the United States Senate from 1991 until he was killed in a plane crash near Eveleth, Minnesota, in 2002, sixteen days before that year's election for the seat. A member of the Democratic Party (DFL), Wellstone was a leader of the populist and progressive wings of the party.

21/07/1943

Fritz Glatz, Austrian race car driver (died 2002)

Friedrich "Fritz" Glatz was an Austrian racing driver from Vienna. He raced under the pseudonyms Pierre Chauvet and Frederico Careca as well as a number of others.

Edward Herrmann, American actor (died 2014)

Edward Kirk Herrmann was an American actor, director, and writer. He was best known for his portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the miniseries Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and 1982 film musical Annie, Richard Gilmore in Amy Sherman-Palladino's comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), and a ubiquitous narrator for historical programs on The History Channel and in such PBS productions as Nova. He was also known in the 1990s as a spokesman for Dodge automobiles.

Henry McCullough, Northern Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter (died 2016)

Henry Campbell Liken McCullough was a musician and singer-songwriter from Northern Ireland. He was best known for his work as a member of Spooky Tooth, the Grease Band and Paul McCartney and Wings. He also performed and recorded as a solo artist and session musician.

Robert Shrum, American author and political advisor

Robert M. Shrum is the director of the Center for the Political Future and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at the University of Southern California, where he is a professor of political science in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. He is a former American political consultant, who has worked on numerous Democratic campaigns, including as senior advisor to the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004 and to the Gore-Lieberman campaign in 2000. Shrum wrote the famous speech Ted Kennedy gave at the 1980 Democratic National Convention conceding to and supporting President Jimmy Carter. He has been described as "the most sought-after consultant in the Democratic Party." Shrum served as speechwriter to New York Mayor John V. Lindsay from 1970 to 1971, speechwriter to Senator George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign and speechwriter and press secretary to Senator Edward M. Kennedy from 1980 to 1984 and political consultant until 2009.

21/07/1942

Mallikarjun Kharge, Indian politician, 98th President of the Indian National Congress

Mallikarjun Mapanna Kharge is an Indian politician and lawyer serving as the President of the Indian National Congress since 2022 and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha since 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka since 2020.

21/07/1939

Jamey Aebersold, American saxophonist and educator

Wilton Jameson "Jamey" Aebersold is an American publisher, educator, and jazz saxophonist. His Play-A-Long series of instructional books and CDs, using the chord-scale system, the first of which was released in 1967, are an internationally renowned resource for jazz education. His summer workshops have educated students of all ages since the 1960s.

Kim Fowley, American singer-songwriter, producer, and manager (died 2015)

Kim Vincent Fowley was an American record producer, songwriter, and musician who was behind a string of novelty and cult pop rock singles in the 1960s, and managed the Runaways in the 1970s. He has been described as "one of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll", as well as "a shadowy cult figure well outside the margins of the mainstream".

John Negroponte, English-American diplomat, 23rd United States Ambassador to the United Nations

John Dimitri Negroponte is an American diplomat. In 2018, he was a James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He is a former J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. Prior to this appointment, he served as a research fellow and lecturer in international affairs at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, United States Deputy Secretary of State (2007–2009), and the first ever Director of National Intelligence (2005–2007).

21/07/1938

Les Aspin, American captain and politician, 18th United States Secretary of Defense (died 1995)

Leslie Aspin Jr. was an American Democratic Party politician and economist who served as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from 1971 to 1993 and as the 18th United States Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1994.

Anton Kuerti, Austrian-Canadian pianist, composer, and conductor

Anton Emil Kuerti, OC is an Austrian-born Canadian pianist, music teacher, composer, and conductor. He has developed international recognition as a solo pianist.

Janet Reno, American lawyer and politician, 79th United States Attorney General (died 2016)

Janet Wood Reno was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of the Democratic Party, Reno was the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only William Wirt, and the first woman to serve in the position.

21/07/1937

Eduard Streltsov, Soviet footballer (died 1990)

Eduard Anatolyevich Streltsov was a Soviet footballer who played as a forward for Torpedo Moscow and the Soviet national team during the 1950s and 1960s. A powerful and skilful attacking player, he scored the fourth-highest number of goals for the Soviet Union and has been called "the greatest outfield player Russia has ever produced". He is sometimes dubbed "the Russian Pelé".

21/07/1935

Norbert Blüm, German businessman and politician (died 2020)

Norbert Blüm was a German politician who served as a federal legislator from North Rhine-Westphalia, chairman of the CDU North Rhine-Westphalia (1987–1999), and Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.

Moe Drabowsky, Polish-American baseball player and coach (died 2006)

Myron Walter Drabowsky was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago White Sox. A noted practical joker, Drabowsky engaged in such antics as leaving snakes in teammates' lockers or phoning the opposing team's bullpen to tell a pitcher to warm up. He batted and threw right-handed.

21/07/1934

Chandu Borde, Indian cricketer and manager

Chandrakant Gulabrao "Chandu" Borde, is an Indian former cricketer who played Test cricket for India between 1958 and 1969. Following his retirement, he became a cricket administrator and twice served as India's chairman of selectors.

Jonathan Miller, English actor, director, and author (died 2019)

Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, comedian and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 1950s, he came to prominence in the early 1960s in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett. He popularized anatomy in The Body in Question.

21/07/1933

John Gardner, American novelist, essayist, and critic (died 1982)

John Champlin Gardner Jr. was an American novelist, essayist, literary critic, and university professor, who wrote the popular 1971 novel Grendel, a retelling of the Beowulf myth from the monster's point of view.

21/07/1932

Kaye Stevens, American singer and actress (died 2011)

Kaye Stevens was an American singer and actress. Her big break in show business came at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, when the headliner for the night, Debbie Reynolds, became ill and Stevens filled in for the night. She then went on to do small shows in New York City at the Plaza Hotel's Persian Room and the Waldorf Astoria, and Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

21/07/1931

Sonny Clark, American pianist and composer (died 1963)

Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark was an American jazz pianist and composer who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.

Plas Johnson, American saxophonist

Plas John Johnson Jr. is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sax as well as various flutes and clarinets.

Leon Schidlowsky, Chilean-Israeli painter and composer (died 2022)

Jorge León Schidlowsky Gaete was a Chilean and Israeli composer and painter. He wrote music for orchestra, chamber ensemble, choir, and instruments including the piano, violin, cello, flute, mandolin, guitar, harp, organ. About 65 pieces were written in graphic notation. His compositions have been performed in numerous countries, with orchestra conductors including Aldo Ceccato, Clytus Gottwald, Erhard Karkoschka, Herbert Kegel, Lukas Foss, Zubin Mehta and Hermann Scherchen. The scores of his graphic music have been shown in exhibitions such as Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum in Ludwigshafen. Schidlowsky worked as a professor of composition both in Chile and Israel, influencing many students.

21/07/1930

Anand Bakshi, Indian poet and songwriter (died 2002)

Anand Bakshi was an Indian poet and lyricist. He won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist four times during his career. He wrote more than 6,000 film songs in more than 300 films.

Helen Merrill, American singer

Helen Merrill is an American jazz vocalist. Her first album, the eponymous 1954 recording Helen Merrill, was an immediate success and associated her with the first generation of bebop jazz musicians. After an active 1950s and 1960s, Merrill spent time recording and touring in Europe and Japan, falling into obscurity in the United States. In the 1980s and 1990s, she was recorded by EmArcy, JVC and Verve, and her performances in America revived her profile.

21/07/1929

Bob Orton, American wrestler (died 2006)

Robert Keith Orton Sr. was an American professional wrestler. The patriarch of the Orton wrestling family, his two sons Bob Orton Jr. and Barry Orton, and grandson Randy Orton, have all wrestled professionally. To distinguish between him and his son, he is also known as Bob Orton Sr. Bob Orton Sr. was often referred to by his nickname "The Big O".

21/07/1928

Sky Low Low, Canadian wrestler (died 1998)

Marcel Gauthier was a Canadian professional midget wrestler who wrestled under the ring name Sky Low Low.

21/07/1926

Paul Burke, American actor (died 2009)

Paul Raymond Burke was an American actor, best known for his lead roles in two 1960s ABC television series, Naked City and 12 O'Clock High. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of New York Police Department detective Adam Flint in Naked City.

Norman Jewison, Canadian actor, director, and producer (died 2024)

Norman Frederick Jewison was a Canadian filmmaker. He is known for directing films which addressed topical social and political issues, often making controversial or complicated subjects accessible to mainstream audiences. Among numerous other accolades, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director three times in three separate decades, for In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and Moonstruck (1987). He was nominated for an additional four Oscars, three Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, and won a BAFTA Award. He received the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences's Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1999.

Rahimuddin Khan, Pakistani general and politician, 7th Governor of Balochistan (died 2022)

Rahimuddin Khan was a Pakistani four-star general who served as the fourth Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of the Pakistan Army from 1984 to 1987. He also served as the seventh Governor of Balochistan, from 1978 to 1984, and briefly as the 16th Governor of Sindh in 1988.

Bill Pertwee, English actor (died 2013)

William Desmond Anthony Pertwee was an English actor and comedian. He played Chief ARP Warden Hodges in Dad's Army and P.C. Wilson in You Rang, M'Lord?.

Karel Reisz, Czech-English director and producer (died 2002)

Karel Reisz was a Czech-born British filmmaker and film critic, one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in British cinema during the 1950s and 1960s. Two of the best-known films he directed are Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), a classic of kitchen sink realism, and the romantic period drama The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981).

21/07/1925

Johnny Peirson, Canadian hockey player (died 2021)

John Frederick Peirson was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who was a winger for 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins from 1946 to 1958. After retiring he became a commentator for the Bruins, serving in that role for more than two decades.

21/07/1924

Don Knotts, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (died 2006)

Jesse Donald Knotts was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also played Ralph Furley on the sitcom Three's Company from 1979 to 1984. He starred in multiple comedic films, including leading roles in The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966). In 2004, TV Guide ranked him number 27 on its "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time" list.

21/07/1923

Rudolph A. Marcus, Canadian-American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate

Rudolph Arthur Marcus is a Canadian-born American chemist who received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his contributions to the theory of electron transfer reactions in chemical systems". Marcus theory, named after him, provides a thermodynamic and kinetic framework for describing one electron outer-sphere electron transfer. He is a professor at Caltech, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and a member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.

Queenie Watts, English actress and singer (died 1980)

Queenie Watts was an English actress of film and television, as well as an occasional singer. She was noted for her broad cockney accent.

21/07/1922

Philomena Franz, German Romani author (died 2022)

Philomena Franz was a Sinti writer and activist from Germany, who was a survivor of the Romani Holocaust, having been imprisoned in Auschwitz. She later published works that recounted her experiences and was recognised as a significant voice in Romani literature.

Kay Starr, American singer (died 2016)

Kay Starr was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multiple genres, such as pop, jazz, and country, but her roots were in jazz. Her 1952 song "Wheel of Fortune" was a smash hit, and later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Additionally, she had big hits with "Allez-Vous-En" and "If You Love Me " in 1953 and 1954, respectively.

Mollie Sugden, English actress (died 2009)

Isabel Mary Sugden, known professionally as Mollie Sugden was an English actress and comedienne. She was best known for being an original cast member in the British sitcom Are You Being Served? (1972–1985) as senior saleswoman Mrs. Slocombe and appeared reprising the character in the AYBS spin-off Grace & Favour (1992–1993).

21/07/1921

James Cooke Brown, American sociologist and author (died 2000)

James Cooke Brown was an American sociologist and science fiction author. He is notable for creating the constructed language Loglan and for designing the Parker Brothers board game Careers.

John Horsley, English actor (died 2014)

John Lovell Horsley was an English actor.

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, Zulu sangoma (died 2020)

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa was a Zulu sangoma from South Africa. He was known as an author of books that draw upon African mythology, traditional Zulu folklore, extraterrestrial encounters and his own personal encounters. His last work was a graphic novel called the Tree of Life Trilogy based on his writings of his most famous book, Indaba my Children. In 2018 he was honoured with an USIBA award presented by the South African Department of Arts and Culture, for his work in indigenous wisdom.

21/07/1920

Constant Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter, sculptor, and illustrator (died 2005)

Constant Anton Nieuwenhuys, better known as Constant, was a Dutch painter, sculptor, graphic artist, author and musician.

Isaac Stern, Russian-American violinist and conductor (died 2001)

Isaac Stern was an American violinist.

Jean Daniel, Algerian-French journalist and author (died 2020)

Jean Daniel Bensaid was a French journalist and author. He was the founder and executive editor of Le Nouvel Observateur weekly now known as L'Obs.

21/07/1917

Alan B. Gold, Canadian lawyer and jurist (died 2005)

Alan Bernard Gold was the chief justice of the Quebec Superior Court from 1983 to 1992.

21/07/1914

Aleksander Kreek, Estonian shot putter and discus thrower (died 1977)

Aleksander Kreek was an Estonian track and field athlete who specialised in the shot put. He was the 1938 European champion in the shot put – one of only two Estonian men to achieve the feat, alongside Arnold Viiding. He was twice a medallist at the International University Games.

21/07/1911

Marshall McLuhan, Canadian author and theorist (died 1980)

Herbert Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. Raised in Winnipeg, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his teaching career as a professor of English at several universities in the United States and Canada before moving to the University of Toronto in 1946, where he remained for the rest of his life. He is known as "the father of media studies".

Umashankar Joshi, Indian author, poet, and scholar (died 1988)

Umashankar Jethalal Joshi was an Indian poet, scholar and writer known for his contributions to Gujarati literature. He wrote most of his works in Gujarati.

21/07/1908

Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (died 1996)

Harold Lee "Jug" McSpaden was an American professional golfer, and golf course architect.

21/07/1903

Russell Lee, American photographer and journalist (died 1986)

Russell Werner Lee was an American photographer and photojournalist, best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the Great Depression. His images documented the ethnography of various American classes and cultures. Lee was known for his technical innovation, particularly his use of direct flash photography to capture indoor environments that other photographers of the era avoided.

Roy Neuberger, American businessman and financier, co-founded Neuberger Berman (died 2010)

Roy Rothschild Neuberger was an American financier who contributed money to raise public awareness of modern art through his acquisition of pieces he deemed worthy. He was a co-founder of the investment firm Neuberger Berman. Roy Neuberger served for several decades as Honorary Trustee, Benefactor, and member of the Department of Modern Art's Visiting Committee at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

21/07/1900

Isadora Bennett, American theatre manager and modern dance publicity agent (died 1980)

Isadora Bennett was an American publicity agent for modern dance theatre. Her work has been considered significant for establishing modern dance. Her clients included Martha Graham, José Limón, José Greco, American Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, Joffrey Ballet.

21/07/1899

Hart Crane, American poet (died 1932)

Harold Hart Crane was an American poet. Inspired by the Romantics and his fellow Modernists, Crane wrote highly stylized poetry, often noted for its complexity. His collection White Buildings (1926), featuring "Chaplinesque", "At Melville's Tomb", "Repose of Rivers" and "Voyages", helped to cement his place in the avant-garde literary scene of the time. The long poem The Bridge (1930) is an epic inspired by the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ernest Hemingway, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1961)

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle and outspoken, blunt public image. Some of his seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works have become classics of American literature, and he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.

21/07/1898

Sara Carter, American singer-songwriter (died 1979)

Sara Elizabeth Carter was an American country music musician, singer, and songwriter. Remembered mostly for her deep, distinctive, mature singing voice, she was the lead singer on most of the recordings of the historic Carter Family act in the 1920s and 1930s. In her earliest recordings her voice was pitched very high.

21/07/1896

Sophie Bledsoe Aberle, American anthropologist, physician and nutritionist (died 1996)

Sophie Bledsoe Aberle was an American anthropologist, physician and nutritionist known for her work with Pueblo people. She was one of two women first appointed to the National Science Board.

21/07/1893

Hans Fallada, German author (died 1947)

Hans Fallada was a German writer of the first half of the 20th century. Some of his better known novels include Little Man, What Now? (1932) and Every Man Dies Alone (1947). His works belong predominantly to the New Objectivity literary style, a style associated with an emotionless reportage approach, with precision of detail, and a veneration for 'the fact'. Fallada's pseudonym derives from a combination of characters found in Grimms' Fairy Tales: The titular protagonist of Hans in Luck, and Fallada the magical talking horse in The Goose Girl.

21/07/1891

Julius Saaristo, Finnish javelin thrower and soldier (died 1969)

Juho Julius Saaristo was a Finnish track and field athlete. He won two medals at the 1912 Olympics: a silver in conventional javelin throw and gold in the two-handed javelin throw, a one-time Olympic event in which the total was a sum of best throws with the right hand and with the left hand. He finished fourth in the javelin throw at the 1920 Olympics. Saaristo held the Finnish national title in the javelin in 1910, 1911 and 1919.

21/07/1885

Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, director, and screenwriter (died 1948)

Jacques Feyder was a Belgian film director, screenwriter and actor who worked principally in France, but also in the US, Britain and Germany. He was a director of silent films during the 1920s, and in the 1930s he became associated with the style of poetic realism in French cinema. He adopted French nationality in 1928.

21/07/1882

David Burliuk, Ukrainian author and illustrator (died 1967)

David Davidovich Burliuk was a Russian poet, artist and publicist of Ukrainian origin associated with the Futurist and Neo-Primitivist movements. Burliuk has been described as "the father of Russian Futurism."

21/07/1880

Milan Rastislav Štefánik, Slovak astronomer, general, and politician (died 1919)

Milan Rastislav Štefánik was a Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator and astronomer. During World War I, he served at the same time as a general in the French Army and as Minister of War for Czechoslovakia. As one of the leading members of the Czechoslovak National Council, he contributed decisively to the cause of Czechoslovak sovereignty, since the status of Czech- and Slovak-populated territories was one of those in question until shortly before the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918. His personal motto was "To Believe, To Love, To Work".

21/07/1875

Charles Gondouin, French rugby player and tug of war competitor (died 1947)

Charles Gondouin was a French rugby union player and tug of war competitor who competed in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the French rugby union team, which won the gold medal. Gondouin studied at the Lycée Condorcet, then worked as a sports journalist. He also participated in the tug of war competition and won a silver medal as a member of French team. He was killed on Christmas Eve when he was struck by a motorist in Paris while returning from a meeting for a racing club in France.

21/07/1870

Emil Orlík, Czech painter, etcher, and lithographer (died 1932)

Emil Orlik was a Czech-German painter, etcher and lithographer. He lived and worked in Prague, Austria and Germany.

21/07/1866

Carlos Schwabe, Swiss Symbolist painter and printmaker (died 1926)

Carlos Schwabe was a Swiss Symbolist painter and printmaker.

21/07/1863

C. Aubrey Smith, English-American cricketer and actor (died 1948)

Sir Charles Aubrey Smith was an English test cricketer and actor of stage and screen. During his acting career, he acquired a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). In Hollywood, he organised British actors into a cricket team, much intriguing local spectators.

21/07/1858

Maria Christina of Austria (died 1929)

Maria Christina Henriette Desideria Felicitas Raineria of Austria was Queen of Spain as the second wife of Alfonso XII. She was queen regent during the vacancy of the throne between her husband's death in November 1885 and the birth of their son Alfonso XIII in May 1886, and subsequently also until her son came of age in May 1902.

Lovis Corinth, German painter (died 1925)

Lovis Corinth was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.

Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, New Zealand painter and educator (died 1941)

Alfred Henry O'Keeffe, was a New Zealand artist and art teacher, who spent the majority of his life in Dunedin. During the first quarter of the twentieth century, he was one of the few New Zealand artists to engage with new ideas while staying in New Zealand. At this time most adventurous New Zealand painters, such as Frances Hodgkins, went overseas. He has sometimes been described as a Vasari - a recorder of artists and their doings - based upon his published recollections, which are the only first hand published account of that milieu.

21/07/1816

Paul Reuter, German-English journalist, founded Reuters (died 1899)

Paul Julius Reuter, later ennobled as Freiherr von Reuter, was a German-born British entrepreneur who was a pioneer of telegraphy and news reporting. He was a reporter, media owner, and the founder of the Reuters news agency, which became part of the Thomson Reuters conglomerate in 2008.

21/07/1811

Robert Mackenzie, Scottish-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of Queensland (died 1873)

Sir Robert Ramsay Mackenzie, 10th Baronet was a pastoralist and politician in Queensland, Australia. He was Premier of Queensland, Australia from August 1867 to November 1868.

21/07/1810

Henri Victor Regnault, French chemist and physicist (died 1878)

Henri Victor Regnault was a French chemist and physicist best known for his careful measurements of the thermal properties of gases. He was an early thermodynamicist and was mentor to William Thomson in the late 1840s. He never used his first given name, and was known throughout his lifetime as Victor Regnault.

21/07/1808

Simion Bărnuțiu, Romanian historian, academic, and politician (died 1864)

Simion Bărnuțiu was a Romanian historian, academic, philosopher, jurist, and liberal politician. A leader of the 1848 revolutionary movement of Transylvanian Romanians, he represented its Eastern Rite Catholic wing. Bărnuțiu lived for a large part of his life in Moldavia, and was for long a professor of philosophy at Academia Mihăileană and at the University of Iași.

21/07/1789

Vasil Aprilov, Bulgarian educator, merchant and writer (died 1847)

Vasil Evstatiev Aprilov was a Bulgarian educator, merchant, philanthropist, writer and a national activist. Aprilov was a leading figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. He contributed to the establishment of secular Bulgarian education and the modern Bulgarian school.

21/07/1783

Charles Tristan, marquis de Montholon, French general (died 1853)

Charles Tristan, Marquis de Montholon was a French general during the Napoleonic Wars. He chose to go into exile on Saint Helena with the ex-emperor after Napoleon's second abdication.

21/07/1710

Paul Möhring, German physician, botanist, and zoologist (died 1792)

Paul Heinrich Gerhard Möhring was a German physician, botanist and zoologist.

21/07/1693

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (died 1768)

Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne was an English Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain, and whose official life extended throughout the Whig supremacy of the 18th century. He is commonly known as the Duke of Newcastle.

21/07/1664

Matthew Prior, English poet and diplomat, British Ambassador to France (died 1721)

Matthew Prior was an English poet, statesman, and diplomat, who played a crucial role in securing the Treaties of Utrecht, serving as Minister Plenipotentiary to France from 1712 to 1715. He is also known as a contributor to The Examiner.

21/07/1654

Pedro Calungsod, Filipino catechist and sacristan; later canonized (died 1672)

Pedro Calungsod, also known as Peter Calungsod and Pedro Calonsor, was a Catholic Filipino-Visayan migrant, sacristan and missionary catechist who, along with the Spanish Jesuit missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, proselytized and converted the indigenous people of Guam, in some cases without consent, which led to both missionaries being martyred in 1672.

21/07/1648

John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee, Scottish general (died 1689)

Major-General John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee was a Scottish army officer. A Tory and Episcopalian, he was responsible for policing southwest Scotland to suppress religious unrest and rebellion of Covenanters during the late 17th century. His allegedly brutal conduct during this period led him to be nicknamed "Bluidy Clavers".

21/07/1620

Jean Picard, French astronomer (died 1682)

Jean Picard was a French priest, astronomer and pioneer in geodesy, born in La Flèche, where he studied at the Collège royal Henri le Grand. He is best known for accurately measuring the size of the Earth, through a survey of one degree of latitude along the Paris Meridian.

21/07/1616

Anna de' Medici, Archduchess of Austria (died 1676)

Anna de' Medici was a daughter of Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife Maria Maddalena of Austria. A patron of the arts, she married Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Further Austria in 1646. They were the parents of Claudia Felicitas of Austria, Holy Roman Empress.

21/07/1535

García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete, Royal Governor of Chile (died 1609)

García Hurtado de Mendoza y Manrique, 5th Marquis of Cañete was a Spanish Governor of Chile, and later Viceroy of Peru. He is often known simply as "Marquis of Cañete". Belonging to an influential family of Spanish noblemen, Hurtado de Mendoza successfully fought in the Arauco War during his stay as Governor of Chile. The city of Mendoza is named after him. In his later position as Viceroy of Peru he sponsored Álvaro de Mendaña's transpacific expedition of 1595, who named the Marquesas Islands after him.

21/07/1476

Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (died 1534)

Alfonso I d'Este was Duke of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio from 1505 until his death in 1534. A prominent military leader during the Italian Wars, he served on various sides throughout the conflict.

Anna Sforza, Italian noble (died 1497)

Anna Maria Sforza was Hereditary Princess of Ferrara as the first wife of Alfonso I d'Este, future Duke of Ferrara. She was the second legitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, and his second wife, Bona of Savoy.

21/07/1462

Queen Jeonghyeon, Korean royal consort (died 1530)

Queen Jeonghyeon, of the Papyeong Yun clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and third queen consort of Yi Hyeol, King Seongjong and the mother of Yi Yeok, King Jungjong. She was queen consort of Joseon from 1479 until her husband's death in 1495, after she was then honoured as Queen Dowager Jasun (자순왕대비) during the reigns of her adoptive son, King Yeonsan from 1495 to 1506, and her son, King Jungjong from 1506 to 1530.

21/07/1414

Pope Sixtus IV (died 1484)

Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, Italian: Sisto IV; born Francesco della Rovere; was head of the Catholic Church and leader of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484.

21/07/1030

Kyansittha, King of Burma (died 1112)

Kyansittha was king of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1084 to 1112/13, and is considered one of the greatest Burmese monarchs. He continued the social, economic and cultural reforms begun by his father, King Anawrahta. Pagan became an internationally recognized power during his 28-year reign. The Burmese language and culture continued to gain ground.

21/07/0541

Emperor Wen of Sui, emperor of the Sui dynasty (died 604)

Emperor Wen of Sui, personal name Yang Jian (楊堅), childhood name Naluoyan (那羅延), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (普六茹堅), was the founding emperor of the Sui dynasty of China. As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state.

Lives Remembered on 21st July

On 21st July, 91 remarkable people passed away — from 658 to 2025. Remember the lives and legacies of those we lost on this day.

21/07/2025

Pau Alsina, Spanish motorcycle rider (born 2008)

Pau Alsina was a Spanish motorcycle racer. He died from injuries sustained in an accident at MotorLand Aragón. He was competing in the 2025 FIM JuniorGP World Championship at the time of his death.

21/07/2023

Tony Bennett, American singer (born 1926)

Anthony Dominick Benedetto, known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Bennett was named a National Endowments for the Arts Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. He founded the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, New York, along with Exploring the Arts, a non-profit arts education program. He sold more than 50 million records worldwide and earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

21/07/2020

Annie Ross, Scottish-American singer and actress (born 1930)

Annie Ross was a British-born American singer and actress, best known as a member of the influential jazz vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. She helped pioneer the vocalese style of jazz singing, with a style described by critic Dave Gelly as "a kind of dreamy watchfulness that is a definition of 1950s hip." In 2010, she was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Andrew Mlangeni, South African political activist (born 1925)

Andrew Mokete Mlangeni, also known as Percy Mokoena, Mokete Mokoena, and Rev. Mokete Mokoena, was a South African political activist and anti-apartheid campaigner who, along with Nelson Mandela and others, was imprisoned after the Rivonia Trial.

21/07/2018

Alene Duerk, U.S. Navy first female admiral (born 1920)

Alene Bertha Duerk became the first female admiral in the U.S. Navy in 1972. She was also the director of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps from 1970 to 1975. She is a 1974 recipient of a Distinguished Alumni Award of Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing.

21/07/2017

John Heard, American film and television actor (born 1946)

John Matthew Heard Jr. was an American actor. He made his debut appearance in film with the ensemble Between the Lines (1977). He appeared in a number of successful films, including Heart Beat (1980), Cutter's Way (1981), Cat People (1982), After Hours (1985), Beaches (1988), Deceived (1991), and as Peter McCalister in Home Alone (1990) and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1999 for his recurring role as corrupt police detective Vin Makazian on The Sopranos (1999–2004).

21/07/2016

Dennis Green, American football player and coach (born 1949)

Dennis Earl Green was an American professional football coach. During his National Football League (NFL) career, Green coached the Minnesota Vikings from 1992 to 2001 and the Arizona Cardinals from 2004 to 2006. He coached the Vikings to eight playoff appearances in nine years, despite having seven different starting quarterbacks in those postseasons. He was posthumously inducted into the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor in 2018.

21/07/2015

Robert Broberg, Swedish singer-songwriter (born 1940)

Robert Zero Karl Oskar Broberg, originally Robert Karl Oskar Broberg – born in the Råsunda district of Solna parish in Stockholm County, died in Gustav Vasa (district) parish in Stockholm – was a Swedish singer, comedian, artist, composer, musician and painter.

E. L. Doctorow, American novelist, short story writer, and playwright (born 1931)

Edgar Lawrence Doctorow was an American novelist, editor, and professor, best known for his works of historical fiction.

Nicholas Gonzalez, American physician (born 1947)

Nicholas James Gonzalez was a New York–based physician known for developing the Gonzalez regimen, an alternative cancer treatment. Gonzalez's treatments were based on his belief that pancreatic enzymes were the body's main defense against cancer and could be used as a cancer treatment. His methods have been generally rejected by the medical community, and he has been characterized as a quack and fraud by other doctors and health fraud watchdog groups. In 1994 Gonzalez was reprimanded and placed on two years' probation by the New York State Medical Board for "departing from accepted practice".

Czesław Marchaj, Polish-English sailor and academic (born 1918)

Czesław Antony Marchaj, often known in the West as C.A. Marchaj or Tony Marchaj, was a Polish-British yachtsman whose published scientific studies of the aerodynamics and hydrodynamics of sailing boats have been influential on yacht, sail and rig designers. He was the author of Sailing Theory and Practice and approximately 60 other publications on sailing. He was a member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), and he was awarded the Silver Medal of The International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

Dick Nanninga, Dutch footballer (born 1949)

Dirk Jacobus Willem "Dick" Nanninga was a Dutch footballer who played as a forward. At club level, he played for Dutch sides BV Veendam, Roda JC and MVV Maastricht. He also had a short spell with Hong Kong club Seiko. At international level, he represented the Netherlands at the 1978 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 1980.

21/07/2014

Louise Abeita, Isleta Pueblo (Native American) writer, poet, and educator (born 1926)

Louise Abeita Chewiwi was a Pueblo writer, poet and educator who was an enrolled member of Isleta Pueblo.

Dan Borislow, American businessman, invented the magicJack (born 1961)

Daniel Marc Borislow was an American entrepreneur, sports team owner, inventor, and thoroughbred horse breeder. Borislow was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended Widener University. In 1989, he founded Tel-Save, Inc. to resell access to AT&T long distance lines. Borislow took the company public in 1995, and two years later brokered a $100 million deal with AOL at the "Cafe L’Europe," Palm Beach. In early 1998, Tel-Save had sales of $300 million and was valued by Wall Street investors at $2 billion. However, due to the financial strain of paying off the AOL deal, Tel-Save lost $221 million in 1999, and Borislow sold his stock for approximately $300 million and retired.

Lettice Curtis, English engineer and pilot (born 1915)

Eleanor Lettice Curtis was an English aviator, flight test engineer, air racing pilot, and sportswoman.

Hans-Peter Kaul, German lawyer and judge (born 1943)

Hans-Peter Kaul was a German international law scholar and former diplomat and lawyer. From 11 March 2003 until 1 July 2014, he served as Judge at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. At the ICC, Kaul was President of the Pre-Trial Division from 2004 until March 2009 and again in 2014, and he was the Court's Second Vice-President from 2009 to 2012. In 2014, he resigned from the ICC for health reasons but his condition became worse and he died on 21 July 2014.

Rilwanu Lukman, Nigerian engineer and politician (born 1938)

Rilwanu Lukman was a Nigerian engineer who held several ministerial positions in the Nigerian Federal government before becoming Secretary General of OPEC from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2000. He died on 21 July 2014. On 18 December 2008, Lukman was appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources by Nigerian president Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, holding office until March 2010.

Kevin Skinner, New Zealand rugby player and boxer (born 1927)

Kevin Lawrence Skinner was a rugby union player from New Zealand who won 20 full caps for the All Blacks, two of them as captain. He was also a heavyweight boxer, winning the New Zealand championship in 1947.

21/07/2013

Andrea Antonelli, Italian motorcycle racer (born 1988)

Andrea Antonelli was an Italian motorcycle racer. He was killed in an accident at the Moscow Raceway, whilst competing for Team Go Eleven Kawasaki in the Supersport World Championship.

Lourembam Brojeshori Devi, Indian martial artist (born 1981)

Lourembam Brojeshori Devi was an Indian judoka who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Det de Beus, Dutch field hockey player (born 1958)

Anna Maria Bernadette "Det" de Beus in the Netherlands. Born in Utrecht, she was the first goalkeeper in women's field hockey to wear a mask.

Luis Fernando Rizo-Salom, Colombian-French composer and educator (born 1971)

Luis Fernando Rizo-Salom was a Colombian composer of contemporary classical music who lived and worked in Paris since 1999. He was also a high performance athlete, member of the French hang gliding team.

Fred Taylor, American football player and coach (born 1920)

Fred Alvin Taylor was an American football player and coach. He served as head coach at Texas Christian University from 1967 to 1970, compiling a record of 15–25–1 before he was fired following the 1970 season.

21/07/2012

Alexander Cockburn, Scottish-American journalist and author (born 1941)

Alexander Claud Cockburn was a Scottish-born Irish-American political journalist and writer. Cockburn was brought up by British parents in Ireland, and lived and worked in the United States from 1972. Together with Jeffrey St. Clair, he edited the political newsletter CounterPunch. Cockburn also wrote the "Beat the Devil" column for The Nation, and another column for The Week in London, syndicated by Creators Syndicate.

Marie Kruckel, American baseball player (born 1924)

Marie Ann Kruckel ["Kruck"] was an American outfielder and pitcher who played from 1946 through 1949 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Listed at 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m), 130 lb (59 kg), she batted and threw right-handed.

Ali Podrimja, Albanian poet and author (born 1942)

Ali Podrimja was an Albanian poet. He was born in Gjakova, at the time part of Italian-controlled Albania under Italy.

James D. Ramage, American admiral and pilot (born 1916)

James D. "Jig Dog" Ramage was a Naval Aviator in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and was a driving force in putting nuclear-capable attack aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Before retirement he attained the rank of rear admiral.

Angharad Rees, English-b. Welsh actress (born 1944)

Angharad Rees was a Welsh actress, best known for her British television roles during the 1970s and in particular her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC TV costume drama Poldark.

Don Wilson, English cricketer and coach (born 1937)

Donald Wilson was an English cricketer, who played in six Test matches for England from 1964 to 1971. His first-class cricket career, which lasted from 1957 to 1974, was spent with Yorkshire County Cricket Club and he later became a noted cricket coach. He was born in Settle, Yorkshire and died at York.

21/07/2010

Luis Corvalán, Chilean educator and politician (born 1916)

Luis Nicolás Corvalán Lepe was a Chilean politician, teacher, and writer. He was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Chile (PCCh) for more than three decades and was twice elected to the Senate of Chile.

Ralph Houk, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1919)

Ralph George Houk, nicknamed "the Major", was an American catcher, coach, manager, and front office executive in Major League Baseball. He is best known as the successor of Casey Stengel as manager of the New York Yankees from 1961 to 1963, when his teams won three consecutive American League pennants and the 1961 and 1962 World Series championships. In 1961 he became the second rookie manager to win 100 games in a season and third rookie manager to win a World Series. He was the first manager to win World Series titles in his first two seasons and the first manager since Hughie Jennings to win three pennants in his first three seasons.

John E. Irving, Canadian businessman (born 1932)

John Ernest Irving CM was a Canadian businessman, the youngest son of the industrialist K. C. Irving and his wife, Harriet Lila Irving.

21/07/2008

Donald Stokes, English businessman (born 1914)

Donald Gresham Stokes, Baron Stokes was an English industrialist. He was the head of British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC) from 1968 to 1975.

21/07/2007

Dubravko Škiljan, Croatian linguist and academic (born 1949)

Dubravko Škiljan was a Croatian linguist known for his work on Classical philology and semiotics.

21/07/2006

Mako Iwamatsu, Japanese-American actor and singer (born 1933)

Makoto Iwamatsu was a Japanese-American actor, credited mononymously in almost all of his acting roles as simply Mako . His career in film, on television, and on stage spanned five decades and 165 productions. He was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award.

Ta Mok, Cambodian soldier and monk (born 1926)

Ta Mok, also known as Nguon Kang, was a Cambodian military chief who was a senior figure in the genocidal Khmer Rouge and the leader of the national army of Democratic Kampuchea. He was also known as Brother Number Five or the Butcher. He was captured along the Cambodia–Thailand border in March 1999 by Cambodian government forces while on the run with a small band of followers; he was held in government custody until his death in 2006 while awaiting his war crimes trial.

21/07/2005

Long John Baldry, English-Canadian singer and actor (born 1941)

John William "Long John" Baldry was a British-Canadian musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including the Rolling Stones, the Animals and the Beatles. Before achieving stardom, Rod Stewart and Elton John were members of bands led by Baldry. He enjoyed pop success in 1967 when "Let the Heartaches Begin" reached No. 1 in the UK, and in Australia where his duet with the American singer Kathi McDonald, a cover of the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", reached No. 2 in 1980.

Lord Alfred Hayes, English-American wrestler and manager (born 1928)

Alfred George James Hayes was an English professional wrestler, manager and commentator, best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation between 1982 and 1995 where he was known as Lord Alfred Hayes. Hayes was distinguished by his "Masterpiece Theatre diction" and "Oxford accent".

21/07/2004

Jerry Goldsmith, American composer and conductor (born 1929)

Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was considered one of film music's most innovative and influential composers. He was nominated for eighteen Academy Awards, six Grammy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, and four British Academy Film Awards.

Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)

Edward Butts Lewis was an American geneticist, a corecipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He helped to found the field of evolutionary developmental biology.

21/07/2003

John Davies, English-New Zealand runner and coach (born 1938)

John Llewellyn Davies was a New Zealand Olympic bronze medallist and president of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC).

21/07/2002

Esphyr Slobodkina, Russian-American author and illustrator (born 1908)

Esphyr Solomonovna Slobodkina was a Russian-born American artist, author, and illustrator, best known for her classic children's picture book Caps for Sale. Slobodkina was a celebrated avant garde artist and feminist in the middle part of the 20th century.

21/07/2000

Marc Reisner, American environmentalist and author (born 1948)

Marc Reisner was an American environmentalist and writer best known for his book Cadillac Desert, a history of water management in the American West.

21/07/1998

Alan Shepard, American admiral, pilot, and astronaut (born 1923)

Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. was an American astronaut. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he became the fifth and oldest person to walk on the Moon, at age 47.

Robert Young, American actor and singer (born 1907)

Robert George Young was an American film, television, and radio actor best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father character, in Father Knows Best and the physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC).

21/07/1997

Olaf Kopvillem, Estonian-Canadian conductor and composer (born 1926)

Olaf Kopvillem was a prominent Estonian World War II refugee. Having settled in Canada, he engaged in the organisation of Estonian exile activities there, and is known for his numerous humorous covers of well-known songs.

21/07/1994

Marijac, French author and illustrator (born 1908)

Jacques Dumas, better known as Marijac, was a French comics writer, artist, and editor.

21/07/1991

Paul Warwick, English race car driver (born 1969)

Paul Jason Warwick was a British racing driver.

21/07/1982

Dave Garroway, American journalist and actor (born 1913)

David Cunningham Garroway was an American radio and television host on NBC. He was the host of Garroway at Large from 1949 to 1951, the founding host and anchor of Today from 1952 to 1961, and the host of The Dave Garroway Show from 1953 to 1954. His radio work included host of The Dave Garroway Show from 1947 to 1955 and Monitor from 1955 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depression. Garroway was honored for his contributions to radio and television with a star for each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the city where he spent part of his teenaged years and early adulthood.

21/07/1977

Lee Miller, American model and photographer (born 1907)

Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose was an American photographer and photojournalist. Miller was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, becoming a fashion and fine-art photographer there.

21/07/1972

Ralph Craig, American sprinter and sailor (born 1889)

Ralph Cook Craig was an American track and field athlete. He was the winner of the sprint double at the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Bhutanese king (born 1928)

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was King of Bhutan from 30 March 1952 until his death in 1972.

21/07/1970

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov, Russian anthropologist and sculptor (born 1907)

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov was a Soviet archaeologist, and anthropologist who discovered the Mal'ta–Buret' culture and developed the first technique of forensic sculpture based on findings of anthropology, archaeology, paleontology, and forensic science. He studied the skulls and meticulously reconstructed the faces of more than 200 people, ranging from the earliest excavated Homo sapiens and neanderthals, to the Middle Ages' monarchs and dignitaries, including emperor Timur (Tamerlane), Yaroslav the Wise, Ivan the Terrible, and Friedrich Schiller.

Bob Kalsu, American football player and lieutenant (born 1945)

James Robert Kalsu was an American professional football player who was an All-American tackle at the University of Oklahoma and an eighth-round selection in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL). Kalsu joined the U.S. Army as an officer after the 1968 season and was killed in action in the Vietnam War in 1970.

21/07/1968

Ruth St. Denis, American dancer and choreographer (born 1878)

Ruth St. Denis was an American pioneer of modern dance, introducing eastern ideas into the art and paving the way for other women in dance. She was inspired by the Delsarte advocate Genevieve Stebbins. St. Denis was the co-founder in 1915 of the American Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. She taught notable performers including Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. In 1938, she founded the pioneering dance program at Adelphi University. She published several articles on spiritual dance and the mysticism of the body.

21/07/1967

Jimmie Foxx, American baseball player, coach, and manager (born 1907)

James Emory Foxx, nicknamed "Double X" and "the Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies. A tremendous power hitter, Foxx retired with the second most home runs, behind only Babe Ruth, and fifth-most runs batted in (RBI). His greatest seasons were with the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox, where he hit a then-record 30 or more home runs in 12 consecutive seasons and drove in more than 100 runs in 13 consecutive years.

Albert Lutuli, South African academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1898)

Albert John Luthuli was a South African anti-apartheid activist, traditional leader, and politician who served as the President-General of the African National Congress from 1952 until his murder in 1967.

Basil Rathbone, South African-American actor and singer (born 1892)

Philip St. John Basil Rathbone was an English actor. Born in South Africa and raised in Derbyshire, he rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films.

21/07/1966

Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, Vienna Circle member (born 1884)

Philipp Frank was an Austrian-American physicist, mathematician and philosopher of the early-to-mid 20th century. He was a logical positivist, and a member of the Vienna Circle. He was influenced by Mach and was one of the Machists criticised by Lenin in Materialism and Empirio-criticism.

21/07/1952

Pedro Lascuráin, Mexican politician, president for 45 minutes on February 13, 1913. (born 1856)

Pedro José Domingo de la Calzada Manuel María Lascuráin Paredes was a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the 38th president of Mexico for 45 minutes on 19 February 1913, the shortest presidency in history. The grandson of Mariano Paredes, the 15th president of Mexico, Lascuráin previously served as Mexico's foreign secretary for two terms and was the director of a small law school in Mexico City for 16 years.

21/07/1948

Arshile Gorky, Armenian-American painter and illustrator (born 1904)

Arshile Gorky was an Armenian-American painter. At first influenced by Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, Gorky's later work presaged and exerted a seminal influence on abstract expressionism. Along with Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning, Gorky has been hailed as one of the most powerful American painters of the 20th century. Gorky's experience as a survivor of the Armenian genocide had a crucial influence on his work.

21/07/1946

Gualberto Villarroel, Bolivian soldier and politician, 45th President of Bolivia (born 1908)

Gualberto Villarroel López was a Bolivian military officer who served as the 39th president of Bolivia from 1943 to 1946. A reformist, sometimes compared with Argentina's Juan Perón, he is nonetheless remembered for his alleged fascist sympathies and his violent demise.

21/07/1944

Claus von Stauffenberg, German soldier who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler (born 1907)

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of Operation Valkyrie.

21/07/1943

Charley Paddock, American runner and actor (born 1900)

Charles William Paddock was an American athlete and two-time Olympic champion.

Louis Vauxcelles, French art critic (born 1870)

Louis Vauxcelles was a French art critic. He is credited with coining the terms Fauvism (1905) and Cubism (1908). He used several pseudonyms in various publications: Pinturrichio, Vasari, Coriolès, and Critias.

21/07/1941

Bohdan Lepky, Ukrainian poet and scholar (born 1872)

Bohdan Teodor Nestor Sylvestrovych Lepky was a Ukrainian writer, poet, scholar, public figure, and artist.

21/07/1938

Owen Wister, American lawyer and author (born 1860)

Owen Wister was an American writer. His novel The Virginian, published in 1902, helped create the cowboy as a folk hero in the United States and built Wister's reputation as the "father of Western fiction." He was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. The Western Writers of America renamed the Saddleman Award for best book of the year to the Owen Wister Award, and Mount Wister in Wyoming was named in his honor.

21/07/1932

Bill Gleason, American baseball player (born 1858)

William G. Gleason was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1882 through 1889 for three different teams of the American Association. Listed at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m), 170 lb., Gleason batted and threw right-handed. His older brother, Jack Gleason, was also a ballplayer.

21/07/1928

Ellen Terry, English actress (born 1847)

Dame Alice Ellen Terry was an English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

21/07/1920

Fiammetta Wilson, English astronomer and educator (born 1864)

Fiammetta Wilson was a British astronomer elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1916.

21/07/1899

Robert G. Ingersoll, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (born 1833)

Robert Green Ingersoll, nicknamed "the Great Agnostic", was an American lawyer, writer, and orator during the Golden Age of Free Thought, who campaigned in defense of agnosticism.

21/07/1889

Nelson Dewey, American lawyer and politician, 1st Governor of Wisconsin (born 1813)

Nelson Webster Dewey was an American lawyer, land speculator, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the first governor of Wisconsin, and also served in the Wisconsin Senate and served several years in the Wisconsin Territory government before Wisconsin achieved statehood. He was also particularly important in the development of Cassville, Wisconsin, which he had at one time hoped to make the state capitol.

21/07/1880

Hiram Walden, American general and politician (born 1800)

Hiram Walden was an American businessman and politician from New York. He was most notable for his service as a United States representative from 1849 to 1851.

21/07/1878

Sam Bass, American outlaw (born 1851)

Samuel Bass was a 19th-century American train robber, outlaw, and outlaw gang leader. Notably, he was a member of a gang of six that robbed a Union Pacific train in Nebraska of $60,000 in newly minted gold from San Francisco, California. To date, this is the biggest train robbery to have been committed in the USA. He died as a result of wounds sustained in a gun battle with law enforcement officers.

21/07/1868

William Bland, Australian surgeon and politician (born 1789)

William Bland was a prominent public figure in the colony of New South Wales. A surgeon by profession, he arrived in Australia as a convict but played an important role in the early years of Australian healthcare, education and science.

21/07/1798

François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, Austrian field marshal (born 1733)

François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt, a Walloon, joined the army of the Habsburg monarchy and soon fought in the Seven Years' War. Later in his military career, he led Austrian troops in the Austro-Turkish War. During the French Revolutionary Wars he saw extensive fighting and rose to the rank of Field Marshal.

Anthony Perry, Irish rebel leader (born ca. 1760)

Anthony Perry, known as the "screeching general", was one of the leaders of the United Irish Wexford rebels during the 1798 rebellion.

21/07/1796

Robert Burns, Scottish poet and songwriter (born 1759)

Robert Burns, also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a "light Scots dialect" of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.

21/07/1793

Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, French admiral, explorer, and politician (born 1739)

Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entrecasteaux was a French Navy officer, explorer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of Isle de France from 1787 to 1789. He is best known for his exploration of the Australian coast in 1792 while searching for Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse.

21/07/1688

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (born 1610)

Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC, was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failure of the senior line of the Butler family, he was the second representative of the Kilcash branch to inherit the earldom.

21/07/1552

Antonio de Mendoza, Spanish politician, 1st Viceroy of New Spain (born 1495)

Antonio de Mendoza was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from 23 September 1551, until his death on 21 July 1552.

21/07/1425

Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (born 1350)

Manuel II Palaiologos or Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1391 to 1425. Shortly before his death he was tonsured a monk and received the name Matthaios (Ματθαίος). Manuel was a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, which sometimes threatened to capture his territory outright. Accordingly he continued his father's practice of soliciting Western European aid against the Ottomans, and personally visited several foreign courts to plead his cause. These efforts failed, although an Ottoman civil war and Byzantine victories against Latin neighbors helped Manuel's government survive and slightly expand its influence. His wife Helena Dragaš saw to it that their sons, John VIII and Constantine XI, became emperors. He is commemorated by the Greek Orthodox Church on 21 July.

21/07/1403

Henry Percy, English soldier (born 1364)

Sir Henry Percy, nicknamed Hotspur or Harry Hotspur, was an English knight who fought in several campaigns against the Scots in the northern border and against the French during the Hundred Years' War. The nickname "Hotspur" was given to him by the Scots as a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack. The heir to a leading noble family in northern England, Hotspur was one of the earliest and prime movers behind the deposition of King Richard II in favour of Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. He later fell out with the new regime and rebelled, and was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 at the height of his fame.

Sir Walter Blount, English soldier, standard-bearer of Henry IV

Sir Walter Blount, was a soldier and supporter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. He later supported John's son and heir Henry Bolingbroke in his bid to become King Henry IV and in later battles against his enemies. At the Battle of Shrewsbury he served as the royal standard-bearer, was mistaken for the king and killed in combat.

Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford, English soldier

Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford and 1st Baron Audley, KG, KB was the son of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, and his wife Philippa de Beauchamp.

21/07/1259

Gojong of Goryeo

Gojong (1192–1259), personal name Wang Cheol, was the 23rd king of the Korean Goryeo dynasty, ruling from 1213 to 1259. Gojong's reign was marked by prolonged conflict with the Mongol Empire, which sought to conquer Goryeo, ending only to settle peace in 1259. During his reign actual power rested with the Choe family of military dictators.

21/07/0987

Geoffrey I, Count of Anjou

Geoffrey I of Anjou, known as Grisegonelle, was count of Anjou from 960 to 987.

21/07/0710

Li Guo'er, princess of the Tang dynasty

Princess Anle, personal name Li Guo'er (李裹兒), was a princess of the Chinese Tang dynasty. She was the youngest daughter of Emperor Zhongzong and his wife Empress Wei. Popular history holds that she was doted upon heavily by her parents and siblings, which contributed to her later drive for power.

Wei, empress of the Tang dynasty

Empress Wei was an empress consort of the Chinese Tang dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong, who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and seize power. She was de facto in charge of the governmental affairs during her husband's reign, though she was not formally regent. Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 — a death traditionally believed to be a poisoning she carried out together with her daughter Li Guo'er the Princess Anle — made her the empress dowager, and she took formal power as regent de jure during the minority of Emperor Shang of Tang. After a reign of seventeen days as regent, she was overthrown and killed in a coup led by Emperor Zhongzong's nephew Li Longji and Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping.

Shangguan Wan'er, Chinese poet (born 664)

Shangguan Wan'er was a Chinese politician, poet, and imperial consort of the Wu Zhou and Tang dynasties. Described as a "female prime minister," Shangguan rose from modest origins as a palace servant to become secretary and leading advisor to Empress Wu Zetian of Zhou. Under Empress Wu, Shangguan exercised responsibility for drafting imperial edicts and earned approbation for her writing style. She retained her influence as consort to Wu's son and successor, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang, holding the imperial consort rank of Zhaorong (昭容). Shangguan was also highly esteemed for her talent as a poet. In 710, after Emperor Zhongzong's death, Shangguan was killed during a palace coup that ended the regency of Empress Dowager Wei.

21/07/0658

K'an II, Mayan ruler (born 588)

Kʼan II was a Maya ruler of Caracol. He reigned AD 618–658.

Celebrations & Special Days Worldwide on 21st July

Christian feast day: Albert John Luthuli (Episcopal Church)

Albert John Luthuli was a South African anti-apartheid activist, traditional leader, and politician who served as the President-General of the African National Congress from 1952 until his murder in 1967.

Christian feast day: Arbogast

Arbogast of Strassburg; German: Arbogast von Straßburg; French: Arbogast de Strasbourg; Latin: Arbogastus; c. 600s) was a 7th-century missionary in the Frankish Empire and an early Bishop of Strasbourg.

Christian feast day: Barhadbesciabas

Barhadbesciabas is venerated as a Christian martyr who was decapitated during the reign of Shapur II. A deacon of Arbela, in the Sassanid Empire, he was arrested by the governor of Arbela, Sapor Tamaspor, and put on the rack.

Christian feast day: Carlos of Brazil (Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church)

Carlos Duarte Costa was a Brazilian bishop who became the founder of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, an Independent Catholic church, and its international communion, which long after his death became the short-lived Worldwide Communion of Catholic Apostolic Churches.

Christian feast day: Daniel (Catholic Church)

Daniel is the main character of the Book of Daniel. According to the Hebrew Bible, Daniel was a noble Jewish youth of Jerusalem taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, serving the king and his successors with loyalty and ability until the time of the Persian conqueror Cyrus, all the while remaining true to the God of Israel. While some conservative scholars hold that Daniel existed and his book was written in the 6th century BCE, most scholars agree that Daniel, as depicted in the Book of Daniel, was not a historical figure, wherein the character was probably based on a similar legendary Daniel from earlier traditions. It follows that much of the book is a cryptic allusion to the reign of the 2nd century BCE Hellenistic king Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

Christian feast day: Lawrence of Brindisi

Lawrence of Brindisi, OFM Cap., born Giulio Cesare Russo, was an Italian Catholic priest, theologian and member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. An accomplished linguist, in addition to his native Italian, Lawrence could read and speak Latin, Hebrew, Greek, German, Czech, Spanish, and French fluently. Lawrence was ordained a priest at the age of 23. Lawrence was beatified on 1 June 1783 and canonized as a saint on 8 December 1881.

Christian feast day: Praxedes

Praxedes, called "a Roman maiden", was a saint and virgin who lived in the Roman Empire during the 2nd century. Along with her sister, Pudentiana, she provided for the poor and gave care and comfort to persecuted Christians and martyrs. Her veneration began in the 4th century and many churches have been dedicated to her.

Christian feast day: Victor of Marseilles

Victor of Marseilles was an Egyptian Christian martyr. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and Eastern Orthodox Church.

Christian feast day: July 21 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

July 20 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 22

Liberation Day in 1944 (Guam)

Liberation Day is a day, often a public holiday, that marks the liberation of a place, similar to an independence day, but differing from it because it does not involve the original creation of statehood. It commemorates the end of an occupation or the fall of a regime or the liberation from both a foreign occupation and a collaborationist regime.

Belgian National Day (Belgium)

Belgian National Day is the national holiday of Belgium commemorated annually on 21 July. It is one of the country's ten public holidays and marks the anniversary of the investiture of Leopold I as the first King of the Belgians in 1831.

Racial Harmony Day (Singapore)

Racial Harmony Day is a day in Singapore to promote racial and ethnic harmony within the nation. It is observed on 21 July every year, with most activities organised by schools and grassroot organisations, including religious groups.

Summer Kazanskaya (Russia)

Our Lady of Kazan, also called Mother of God of Kazan, is a holy icon of the highest stature within the Russian Orthodox Church, representing the Virgin Mary as the protector and patroness of the city of Kazan, and a palladium of all of Russia and Rus', known as the Holy Protectress of Russia. As is the case for any holy entity under a Patriarchate in communion within the greater Eastern Orthodox Church, it is venerated by all Orthodox faithful.

What Happened on 21st July?

59 significant events took place on Friday, 21st July — stretching from -356 to 2025. Explore the moments that shaped history on this day.

21/07/2025

A Bangladesh Air Force Chengdu FT-7BGI crashes shortly after takeoff into Milestone School campus in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 35 people and injuring 173.

The Bangladesh Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for defending the airspace of Bangladesh and supporting national security operations. Operating under the Ministry of Defence, the BAF conducts air defence, reconnaissance, transport, and disaster relief missions. Established after the 1971 Liberation War, the Bangladesh Air Force has actively participated in United Nations peacekeeping operations and regional security initiatives.

21/07/2024

U.S. President Joe Biden announces he will no longer seek a second term and withdraws from the 2024 election, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as she launches her own presidential campaign.

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American retired politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009 and also served as the 47th vice president under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017.

21/07/2023

The Barbenheimer phenomenon begins as two major motion pictures, Greta Gerwig's fantasy comedy Barbie and Christopher Nolan's epic biographical thriller Oppenheimer, are released in theaters on the same day and audiences, instead of creating a rivalry between the extremely dissimilar films, instead attend and praise both as an informal, surreal double feature.

Barbenheimer was a cultural phenomenon that preceded and surrounded the simultaneous theatrical release of two major studio films—Barbie by Warner Bros. Pictures and Oppenheimer by Universal Pictures—on July 21, 2023. The dichotomy between Barbie, a fantasy comedy directed by Greta Gerwig based on the fashion doll Barbie, and Oppenheimer, a biographical thriller directed by Christopher Nolan based on the life of theoretical physicist and creator of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, sparked widespread online engagement. This included the creation of memes, merchandise, and themed content across social media.

21/07/2019

Yuen Long attack or "721 incident" in Hong Kong. Triad members indiscriminately beat civilians returning from protests while police failed to take action.

The 2019 Yuen Long attack, also known as the 721 incident, refers to a mob attack that occurred in Yuen Long, a town in the New Territories of Hong Kong, on the evening of 21 July 2019. It took place in the context of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. A mob dressed in white stormed the MTR's Yuen Long station and attacked protesters returning from a demonstration in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island as well as bystanders.

21/07/2012

Erden Eruç completes the first solo human-powered circumnavigation of the world.

Erden Eruç is a Turkish-American adventurer who became the first person in history to complete an entirely solo and entirely human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth on 21 July 2012 in Bodega Bay, California, United States. The journey had started from Bodega Bay a little more than five years earlier on 10 July 2007. The modes of transport included a rowboat to cross the oceans, a sea kayak for shorelines, a bicycle on the roads and hiking on trails, along with canoes for a few river crossings. The route he followed was 66,299 km (41,196 mi) long, crossed the equator twice and all lines of longitude, and passed over twelve pairs of antipodal points, meeting all the requirements for a true circumnavigation of the globe. Guinness World Records has officially recognized Eruç for the "First solo circumnavigation of the globe using human power" on a journey that lasted 5 years 11 days 12 hours and 22 minutes.

21/07/2011

NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the United States' civil space program and for research in aeronautics and space. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., NASA operates ten field centers across the U.S. and is organized into three mission directorates: Human Spaceflight, Research and Technology, and Science. Established in 1958, NASA succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space program a distinct civilian orientation focused on peaceful applications. Since then, it has led most American spaceflight programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the Apollo program, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station (ISS) and the ongoing multi-national Artemis program.

21/07/2010

U.S. President Barack Obama signs the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

21/07/2008

Ram Baran Yadav is declared the first President of Nepal.

Dr. Ram Baran Yadav is a Nepali politician and physician who served as the first president of Nepal from 23 July 2008 to 29 October 2015, following the declaration of republic in 2008. Previously, he served as Minister of Health from 1999 to 2001 and general secretary of the Nepali Congress.

21/07/2005

Four attempted bomb attacks by Islamist extremists disrupt part of London's public transport system.

On 21 July 2005, four attempted bomb attacks by four Islamist extremists disrupted part of London's public transport system as a follow-up attack to the 7 July 2005 London bombings two weeks earlier. The explosions occurred around midday at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations on the London Underground, and on London Buses route 26 in Haggerston. A fifth bomber dumped his device without attempting to set it off.

21/07/2001

At the conclusion of a fireworks display on Okura Beach in Akashi, Hyōgo, Japan, 11 people are killed and more than 120 are injured when a pedestrian footbridge connecting the beach to JR Asagiri Station becomes overcrowded and people leaving the event fall down in a domino effect.

Akashi is a city in southern Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 February 2024, the city had an estimated population of 305,925 in 137,288 households and a population density of 6,200 people per km2. The total area of the city is 49.42 square kilometres (19.08 sq mi).

21/07/1995

Third Taiwan Strait Crisis: The People's Liberation Army begins firing missiles into the waters north of Taiwan.

The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, or the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was the effect of a series of missile tests conducted by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the waters surrounding Taiwan, including the Taiwan Strait, from 21 July 1995 to 23 March 1996. The first set of missiles fired in mid-to-late 1995 was allegedly intended to send a strong signal to the Republic of China government (ROC) under President Lee Teng-hui, who had been seen as "moving its foreign policy away from the One-China policy", as claimed by the PRC. The second set of missiles was fired in early 1996, allegedly intending to intimidate the Taiwanese electorate in the run-up to the 1996 presidential election.

21/07/1990

Taiwan's military police forces mainland Chinese illegal immigrants into sealed holds of a fishing boat Min Ping Yu No. 5540 for repatriation to Fujian, causing 25 people to die from suffocation.

The Republic of China Military Police, referred to informally as the Taiwanese Military Police is a military police force operating under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense of Republic of China (Taiwan). Unlike military police organisations in many other countries, the ROCMP functions as a distinct branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces.

21/07/1983

The world's lowest temperature in an inhabited location is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).

The lowest natural temperature ever directly recorded at ground level on Earth is −89.2 °C at the then-Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983 by ground measurements.

21/07/1979

Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor, becomes the first Native American to have a star commemorated in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Jay Silverheels was a First Nations and Mohawk actor and athlete, descended from three Iroquois nations. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television series The Lone Ranger.

21/07/1977

The start of the four-day-long Libyan–Egyptian War.

The Egyptian–Libyan War, also known as the Four Day War, was a short border war fought between Libya and Egypt that lasted from 21 to 24 July 1977. The conflict stemmed from a deterioration in relations that had occurred between the two states after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat had rebuffed Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's entreaties to unify their countries and had started to pursue peace negotiations with Israel in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Soon thereafter, Libya began sponsoring dissidents and assassination plots to undermine Sadat, in which Egypt responded in kind to weaken Gaddafi. In early 1976, Gaddafi dispatched troops to the Egyptian frontier where they began clashing with border guards. Sadat responded by moving many troops to the area, while the Egyptian General Staff drew up plans for an invasion to depose Gaddafi.

21/07/1976

Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, is assassinated by the Provisional IRA.

Christopher Thomas Ewart Ewart-Biggs was the British ambassador to Ireland, an author and senior Foreign Office liaison officer with MI6. He served as a British ambassador to Ireland on July 9, 1976 until his assassination 12 days later by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Sandyford, Dublin.

21/07/1973

In Lillehammer, Norway, Mossad agents kill a waiter whom they mistakenly thought was involved in the 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre.

The Lillehammer affair was the murder of Ahmed Bouchikhi, a Moroccan waiter, by Mossad agents in Lillehammer, Norway, on 21 July 1973. The Israeli agents had mistaken their target for Ali Hassan Salameh, the chief of operations for Black September. Six of the fifteen members of the Mossad team were captured and convicted of complicity in the killing by the Norwegian justice system, in a major blow to the intelligence agency's reputation.

21/07/1972

The Troubles: Bloody Friday: The Provisional IRA detonate 22 bombs in central Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom in the space of 80 minutes, killing nine and injuring 130.

The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.

21/07/1970

After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed.

The Aswan High Dam, often called simply Aswan Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built between 1960 and 1970 across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt. The project was developed by the Egyptian government with the help of the Soviet Union to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity. The dam was seen as pivotal to the country's industrialization plans. Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.

21/07/1969

Apollo program: At 02:56 UTC, astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the Moon, followed 19 minutes later by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.

The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo was conceived in 1960 in the Dwight D. Eisenhower presidency during Project Mercury and executed after Project Gemini. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in his address to the U.S. Congress on May 25, 1961.

21/07/1964

A series of racial riots break out in Singapore. In the next six weeks, 23 die with 454 others injured.

The 1964 race riots in Singapore were a series of communal disturbances and racial conflicts between the Malay and Chinese communities in Singapore. They occurred just months after Singapore's merger with Malaysia on 16 September 1963 and were regarded as the most serious and prolonged racial violence in the nation's post-war history. Although 1964 was marked by general racial tension, the term specifically refers to two major outbreaks on 21 July and 2 September, particularly the former, which was more severe and resulted in 23 deaths and 454 injuries.

21/07/1961

Mercury program: Mercury-Redstone 4 Mission: Gus Grissom piloting Liberty Bell 7 becomes the second American to go into space (in a suborbital mission).

Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Union. Taken over from the US Air Force by the newly created civilian space agency NASA, it conducted 20 uncrewed developmental flights, and six successful flights by astronauts. The program, which took its name from Roman mythology, cost $2.83 billion. The astronauts were collectively known as the "Mercury Seven", and each spacecraft was given a name ending with a "7" by its pilot.

Alaska Airlines Flight 779 crashes near Shemya Air Force Base in Shemya, Alaska killing six.

Alaska Airlines Flight 779 was a contract cargo flight operated on 21 July 1961 by an Alaska Airlines Douglas DC-6A that crashed short of the runway at Shemya Air Force Base with the loss of all six crew members on board.

21/07/1960

Sirimavo Bandaranaike is sworn in as prime minister of Ceylon, becoming the world's first democratically elected female head of government.

Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan politician who served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1960 to 1965, from 1970 to 1977, and from 1994 to 2000. A chairperson of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), she was the first woman in the world to be elected prime minister in 1960.

21/07/1959

NS Savannah, the first nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship, is launched as a showcase for Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" initiative.

NS Savannah was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, launched on July 21, 1959, two years after the Soviet ice-breaker Lenin, the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel. A demonstration project for the potential peacetime uses of nuclear energy, she was built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million. Savannah was given the new designation "NS" for "Nuclear Ship", replacing the traditional commercial vessel prefix "SS" for "Screw Steamer", and was named after SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. She was funded by United States government agencies as part of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1955 "Atoms for Peace" program, and was in service between 1962 and 1972 as one of only four nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built.

Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green becomes the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team to integrate. He came in as a pinch runner for Vic Wertz and stayed in as shortstop in a 2–1 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Elijah Jerry "Pumpsie" Green was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder who played with the Boston Red Sox (1959–62) and New York Mets (1963). A switch-hitter who threw right-handed, he was listed as 6 ft (1.83 m) tall and 175 lb (79 kg).

21/07/1954

First Indochina War: The Geneva Conference partitions Vietnam into North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

The First Indochina War, known alternatively internationally as the French Indochina War, was fought in French Indochina between France and the Viet Minh and their respective allies, from 19 December 1946 until 11 August 1954. Most of the engagements of this conflict occurred in Vietnam.

21/07/1952

The 7.3 Mw  Kern County earthquake strikes Southern California with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), killing 12 and injuring hundreds.

The 1952 Kern County earthquake occurred on July 21 in the southern San Joaquin Valley and measured 7.3 on the moment magnitude scale. The main shock occurred at 4:52 am Pacific Daylight Time, killed 12 people, injured hundreds more and caused an estimated $60 million in property damage. A small sector of damage near Bealville corresponded to a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), though this intensity rating was not representative of the majority of damage. The earthquake occurred on the White Wolf Fault near the community of Wheeler Ridge and was the strongest to occur in California since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

21/07/1951

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 3505 disappears while flying from Vancouver to Tokyo. The aircraft and its 37 occupants are never found.

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 3505 was a scheduled flight operated by Canadian Pacific Air Lines for the United Nations from Vancouver, Canada, to Tokyo, Japan. On 21 July 1951, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster, registered CF-CPC, disappeared with 31 passengers and six crew onboard. The incident marked the first aircraft loss during the Korean Airlift.

21/07/1949

The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.

The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, and the U.S. House of Representatives is the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the Constitution to make and pass or defeat federal legislation.

21/07/1944

World War II: Battle of Guam: American troops land on Guam, starting a battle that will end on August 10.

World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people. Millions died as a result of massacres, starvation, disease, and genocides, including the Holocaust. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.

World War II: Claus von Stauffenberg and four fellow conspirators are executed for the July 20 plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of Operation Valkyrie.

21/07/1936

Spanish Civil War: The Central Committee of Antifascist Militias of Catalonia is constituted, establishing an anarcho-syndicalist economy in Catalonia.

The Spanish Civil War was fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans and the Nationalist rebels. Republicans loyal to the left-leaning Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic included socialists, anarchists, communists, and separatists, supported by the Soviet Union. The opposing Nationalists were an alliance of fascist Falangists, monarchists, conservatives, and traditionalists, supported by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Initially led by a military junta, until General Francisco Franco was appointed supreme leader on 1 October 1936 of what he called the Spanish State. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war was variously viewed as class struggle, religious struggle, or struggle between republican democracy and dictatorship, revolution and counterrevolution, or between fascism and communism. The Nationalists won the war in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.

21/07/1925

Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching human evolution in class and fined $100.

The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, commonly known as the Scopes trial or Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law which outlawed the teaching of human evolution in public schools. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant. Scopes was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had offered to defend anyone accused of violating the Butler Act in an effort to challenge the constitutionality of the law.

Malcolm Campbell becomes the first man to exceed 150 mph (241 km/h) on land. At Pendine Sands in Wales, he drives Sunbeam 350HP built by Sunbeam at a two-way average speed of 150.33 mph (242 km/h).

Major Sir Malcolm Campbell was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called Blue Bird, including a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam. His son, Donald Campbell, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records.

21/07/1920

The "Belfast Pogrom" begins two years of violence with the expulsion of thousands of Catholic shipyard, factory and linen mill workers from their jobs.

The Troubles in Ulster of the 1920s was a period of conflict in the Irish province of Ulster, from June 1920 until June 1922, during and after the Irish War of Independence and the partition of Ireland. In Ulster, it was mainly a communal conflict between unionists, who wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom, and nationalists, who backed Irish independence: the unionists were mainly Ulster Protestants and the nationalists were mainly Irish Catholics. During this period, more than 500 people were killed in Belfast alone, 500 interned and 23,000 people were made homeless in the city, while approximately 50,000 people fled the province due to intimidation. Most of the victims were Nationalists (73%) with civilians being far more likely to be killed compared to the military, police or paramilitaries. In Belfast where Catholics made up only a third of the population, the disproportionate number of Catholic casualties combined with sustained attacks upon Catholic civilians involving police or special constabulary forces, led to the troubles being known as the 'Belfast Pogrom(s)'.

21/07/1919

The dirigible Wingfoot Air Express crashes into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building in Chicago, killing 12 people.

An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air to achieve the lift needed to stay airborne.

21/07/1907

The passenger steamer SS Columbia sinks after colliding with the steam schooner San Pedro off Shelter Cove, California, killing 88 people.

SS Columbia (1880–1907) was a cargo and passenger steamship that was owned by the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and later the San Francisco and Portland Steamship Company. Columbia was constructed in 1880 by the John Roach & Sons shipyard in Chester, Pennsylvania for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company.

21/07/1904

Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land. He drove a 15-liter Gobron-Brillié in Ostend, Belgium.

Louis Rigolly (1876–1958), a Frenchman, was the first man to drive a car at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

21/07/1877

After rioting by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers and the deaths of nine rail workers at the hands of the Maryland militia, workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, stage a sympathy strike that is met with an assault by the state militia.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie System. Its lines are today controlled by CSX Transportation (CSX).

21/07/1873

At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James–Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West.

Adair is a city in Adair and Guthrie counties of Iowa in the United States. The population was 791 at the 2020 census.

21/07/1865

In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first western showdown.

Springfield is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 487,061 in 2022 and includes the counties of Christian, Dallas, Greene, Polk, and Webster. Springfield is the largest city in the Ozarks region, and sits on the Springfield Plateau, which ranges from nearly level to rolling hills.

21/07/1861

American Civil War: First Battle of Bull Run: At Manassas Junction, Virginia, the first major battle of the war begins and ends in a victory for the Confederate army.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded from the Union to preserve slavery in the United States, which they saw as threatened because of the election of Abraham Lincoln and the growing abolitionist movement in the North. The war ended with Union victory, the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of slavery, freeing four million African Americans.

21/07/1831

Inauguration of Leopold I of Belgium, first king of the Belgians.

Leopold I was the first king of the Belgians, reigning from 21 July 1831 until his death in 1865.

21/07/1798

French campaign in Egypt and Syria: Napoleon's forces defeat an Ottoman-Mamluk army near Cairo in the Battle of the Pyramids.

The French invasion of Egypt and Syria (1798–1801) was a military expedition to Ottoman-held Egypt and Syria led by Napoleon Bonaparte during the French Revolutionary Wars. The campaign aimed to undermine British trade routes, expand French influence, and establish a scientific and administrative presence in Egypt. Napoleon also sought to sever Britain's connection to its colonial holdings in India, with the long-term ambition of challenging British dominance in the region.

21/07/1774

Russo-Turkish War (1768–74): Russia and the Ottoman Empire sign the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca ending the war.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a major armed conflict that saw Russian armies victorious against the Ottoman Empire. Russia's victory brought the Yedisan between the rivers Bug and Dnieper, and Crimea into the Russian sphere of influence. Though a series of victories accrued by the Russian Empire led to substantial territorial conquests, including direct conquest over much of the Pontic–Caspian steppe, less Ottoman territory was directly annexed than might otherwise be expected due to a complex struggle within the European diplomatic system to maintain a balance of power that was acceptable to other European states and avoided direct Russian hegemony over Eastern Europe.

21/07/1718

The Treaty of Passarowitz between the Ottoman Empire, Austria and the Republic of Venice is signed.

The Treaty of Passarowitz, or Treaty of Požarevac, was the peace treaty signed in Požarevac, a town that was in the Ottoman Empire but is now in Serbia, on 21 July 1718 between the Ottoman Empire and its adversaries, the Habsburg monarchy and the Republic of Venice.

21/07/1674

A Dutch assault on the French island of Martinique is repulsed against all odds.

The invasion of Martinique in 1674 was an unsuccessful attempt by the Dutch Republic to conquer the Caribbean island of Martinique from France. In spite of overwhelming Dutch superiority in men and ships, the French won a decisive and unexpected victory.

21/07/1656

The Raid on Málaga takes place during the Anglo-Spanish War.

The Raid on Malaga was a military action by the English against the Spanish city of Málaga on 21 July 1656 as part of the Anglo–Spanish War (1654–1660).

21/07/1645

Qing dynasty regent Dorgon issues an edict ordering all Han Chinese men to shave their forehead and braid the rest of their hair into a queue identical to those of the Manchus.

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, also known as the Qing Empire or Qing China, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia which existed from 1636/1644 to 1912. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. At the height of its power, the empire stretched from the Sea of Japan in the east to the Pamir Mountains in the west, and from the Mongolian Plateau in the north to the South China Sea in the south. Originally emerging from the Later Jin dynasty founded in 1616 and proclaimed in Shenyang in 1636, the dynasty seized control of the Ming capital Beijing and North China in 1644, traditionally considered the start of the dynasty's rule. The dynasty lasted until the Xinhai Revolution of October 1911 led to the abdication of the last emperor in February 1912. The multi-ethnic Qing dynasty assembled the territorial base for modern China. The Qing controlled the most territory of any dynasty in Chinese history, and in 1790 was the fourth-largest empire in world history to that point. It was also the most populous state at the time, with over 426 million citizens in 1907.

21/07/1568

Eighty Years' War: Battle of Jemmingen: Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva defeats Louis of Nassau.

The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.

21/07/1545

The first landing of French troops on the coast of the Isle of Wight during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight.

The Isle of Wight is an island off the south coast of England. It is a unitary authority and also a ceremonial county. It is separated from the mainland county of Hampshire by the Solent strait, and is otherwise surrounded by the English Channel. Its largest settlement is Ryde, and the administrative centre is Newport.

21/07/1403

Battle of Shrewsbury: King Henry IV of England defeats rebels to the north of the county town of Shropshire, England.

The Battle of Shrewsbury was fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers fought each other on English soil, reaffirmed the effectiveness of the longbow and ended the Percy challenge to King Henry IV of England.

21/07/1242

Battle of Taillebourg: Louis IX of France puts an end to the revolt of his vassals Henry III of England and Hugh X of Lusignan.

The Battle of Taillebourg, a major medieval battle fought in July 1242, was the decisive engagement of the Saintonge War. It pitted a French Capetian army under the command of King Louis IX, also known as Saint Louis, and his younger brother Alphonse of Poitiers, against forces led by King Henry III of England, his brother Richard of Cornwall and their stepfather Hugh X of Lusignan.

21/07/0905

King Berengar I of Italy and a hired Hungarian army defeats the Frankish forces at Verona. King Louis III is captured and blinded for breaking his oath (see 902).

Berengar I was King of Italy from 887 and Holy Roman Emperor from 915 until his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, but he had lost control of the region by 896.

21/07/0365

The 365 Crete earthquake affected the Greek island of Crete with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), causing a destructive tsunami that affects the coasts of Libya and Egypt, especially Alexandria. Many thousands are killed.

Year 365 (CCCLXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in the West as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Valens. The denomination 365 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

21/07/0285

Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar and co-ruler.

Diocletian, nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia. As with other Illyrian soldiers of the period, Diocles rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, serving under Aurelian and Probus, and eventually becoming a cavalry commander for the army of Emperor Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son Numerian on a campaign in Persia, Diocles was proclaimed emperor by the troops, taking the name "Diocletianus". The title was also claimed by Carus's surviving son, Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the Battle of the Margus.

21/07/0230

Pope Pontian succeeds Urban I as the eighteenth pope. After being exiled to Sardinia, he became the first pope to resign his office.

Pope Pontian was the bishop of Rome from 21 July 230 to 28 September 235. In 235, during the persecution of Christians in the reign of the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, Pontian was arrested and sent to the island of Sardinia.

01/01/1970

The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is destroyed by arson.

The Temple of Artemis or Artemision, also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to a localised form of the goddess Artemis. It was located in Ephesus, near modern day Selçuk in Turkey. The original temple was among the Seven Wonders of the World and was burnt down in 356 BCE by Herostratos on the eve of the birth of Alexander the Great. While it had been destroyed and rebuilt many times in ancient history, the last incarnation of the temple was destroyed in 401 CE. Only foundations and fragments of the last temple remain in the present day.